Who is the most famous method actor? Marlon Brando. One article's first line reiterates this: "Many believe that screen acting can be divided as before and after Marlon Brando".
Isaac Butler has written a book on this - The Method - How the Twentieth Century learned to Act. He was on CBC in a podcast/broadcast talking about how Method Acting changed things. He traces the history of acting from the late 19th-century through to its ascendance in North America, where it transformed the experience of theatre and films from grandstand set speeches to compelling dynamic explorations of human emotion and the human condition.
Marlon Brando wasn't the first Method Actor - John Garfield is credited with this. The moment was the 1938 movie Four Daughters where he gave a performance like none before.
However, Marlon Brando two characteristics that catapulted him to fame. He was compellingly attractive and he was electric in his presence on stage and on film. A small clip was played on the podcast - it was between Vivien Leigh and Marlon Brando in A Streetcar Named Desire. His electric energy and intensity overtook the scene. One is mesmerized.
And even so, this was considered Vivien Leigh's greatest performance. She played the part for nine months on stage and then made the film. Her personality and Blanche's merged. She herself claimed that the role "tipped her into madness". Method Acting focuses on tactics such as memory and imagination exercises, improvisation and script analysis to achieve a deep understanding of the character. Vivien Leigh carried this out in real life. There are stories and articles about the merging of actor and character.
Streetcar Named Desire is considered the moment of separation - the Old Hollywood before Streetcar, and after. The after-world was full of Method Actors and electrifying performances. There are other aspects that came along with Stanislavski's approach - the role of the director, the presence of designers, and the overall theme and style of the play/film. And besides Brando, a few include:
Robert De Niro
Daniel Day-Lewis
All Pacino
Angelina Jolie
Jim Carey
Forest Whitaker
Charlize Theron
The list of actors using the method is very long. Here's a quote by a famous member of the group.
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