The Art of American Screen Acting, 1960 to Today

Modern screen acting in English is dominated by two key figures: Method acting guru Lee Strasberg--who taught the "the art of experiencing" over "the art of representing"--and English theater titan Laurence Olivier, who once said of the Method's immersive approach, "try acting, it's so much easier."This book explores in detail the work of such method actors as Al Pacino, Ellen Burstyn, Jack Nicholson and Jane Fonda, and charts the shift away from the more internally focused Strasberg-based acting of the 1970s, and towards the more "external" way of working, exemplified by the career of Meryl Streep in the 1980s.

Table of ContentsIntroduction: Method and MerylJack Nicholson: Dance with the DevilWarren Beatty: Take Off Your ClothesAl Pacino: Darkness on the Edge of TownDustin Hoffman: Midnight of the MethodRobert De Niro: Born to LoseHarvey Keitel: Body ArtistGene Hackman: Keep It RealAlbert Finney: Married PeopleAnthony Hopkins: High, Wide and HandsomeDaniel ­Day-Lewis: In CharacterJeff Bridges: Straight No ChaserNick Nolte: CrucifiedSean Penn: By HimselfRiver Phoenix: Only OnceDenzel Washington: The Duke in His DomainViggo Mortensen: Set ApartChristian Bale: TransparencyLeonardo DiCaprio: Bad InfluenceMichael Fassbender: Angel Eyes That Old Devil SentBen Whishaw: Diamond in the RoughJane Fonda: The SearchFaye Dunaway: Touched to the QuickEllen Burstyn: The Shadow SelfGena Rowlands: Love StreamsMaggie Smith: The Acid QueenJulie Christie: DarlingGlenda Jackson: Tension ClenchingDiane Keaton: In the MomentSissy Spacek: Down HomeDebra Winger: Feathers in a TornadoSigourney Weaver: Above It AllGlenn Close: Command PerformancesKathleen Turner: Lust for LifeAlfre Woodard: Wait and SeeJudy Davis: High AnxietyEmma Thompson: A Star DancedJennifer Jason Leigh: Hard KnocksJulianne Moore: Lying in WaitSamantha Morton: Chaos/ControlPatricia Clarkson: On a DareConclusion: Chaos TheoryBibliographyIndex