Accusations of copying dogged James Dean’s brief career, in part because they were true. Read an excerpt from parabasis's book on the history of Method acting
James Dean in his agent’s office in 1955. Photo: Dennis Stock/Magnum Photos Isaac Butler’s The Method: How the Twentieth Century Learned to Act chronicles the history of Method acting and the generations of American actors shaped by it. Developed in the early 20th century by Russian actor and director Konstantin Stanislavski, the approach was refashioned in America by Lee Strasberg, Stella Adler, and Sanford Meisner — first at New York’s Group Theatre and later at the Actors Studio.
Actors need to be able to adjust the thickness of their skin in order to survive, hardening themselves to the gaze of the public while becoming open and vulnerable for the sake of their work. Dean never learned how to do this, and his inability to modulate himself led to strange and off-putting behavior. Once, Lewis asked him to audition for his production of The Teahouse of the August Moon.
Accusations of copying Brando and Montgomery Clift dogged Dean’s brief career, in part because they were true. Dean phoned Clift regularly, trying to get the secret to his minimalist grace — the way Clift did everything just so without appearing to try too hard — but Clift refused to divulge his secrets. To study Brando’s mannerisms, Dean watched The Men again and again and read press reports about his idol’s research process.
James Dean at the Actors Studio in 1955. Photo: Dennis Stock/Magnum Photos Dean was a member of the Studio, but he rarely got up on its stage. He had been so humiliated by Strasberg’s feedback the first time he presented work there that, while he appeared in other people’s projects, he seldom risked being the focus of Strasberg’s unflinching gaze again. Dean and Strasberg had a mutually beneficial relationship in the press, however.
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