Heath Ledger's Prior Anxiety Problems and the Mental Strain of Method Acting

Perhaps we should damn that old Stanislavsky acting technique of Method Acting. It arguably provides a process in giving a better performance in movies for actors, but it also can get under both the actor's (and the viewer's) skin when playing an unpleasant role. Actors have to basically live with the role they're playing to the point of eventual madness. Some documented evidence from past actors seems to show what it can do to a person's psyche. In the case of the now late Heath Ledger--it could be an indirect casualty from the process. From all appearances in Ledger's most recent film roles, he was a true advocate of Method Acting, whether through his own personal approach or through disciplined training. And, based on recently cryptic comments he made when playing the role of The Joker in "The Dark Knight" (now, eerily, his last performance), playing a much, much more sadistic version of this character became too psychologically tough to digest.

This isn't to say that Method Acting doesn't have its place in the acting world. We've managed to get some of the greatest performances in the history of film thanks to Method Actors. James Dean, Marlon Brando and Robert DeNiro (just to name the three you think of first) have taken roles they've conceived and made them beyond believable and compelling. The famous Actor's Studio in NYC promotes the process thanks to the controversial Elia Kazan, Cheryl Crawford and Robert Lewis who started it in 1947. And then, of course, Lee Strasberg forwarded it even further when he took over in 1952. Many of Strasberg's students learned well how to get inside a role--sometimes very disturbing ones. But roles in those days were obviously not as cutting edge as they are now.