Constantine Stanislavski is considered as the most influential person of modern day acting. He developed his famous style of acting which is called the Stanislavski system which contains very many elements that help an actor bring out their designated roles with a lot of originality. The components of this system include emotional memory, the magic if, units and objectives motivation, before and after as well as the subtext (Lively Art 100). These steps are considered an enhancing environment which helps create an inner stimulus that inspires actors. All these steps can guide an actor into making a play more realistic and truthful and that the very best can happen and the actor gets carried away by that which happens in the inside of them while they are on set, they will live their part and bring out the very best out of them. Very many actors today use this method of acting and perhaps it is this system of acting that makes the actors realer and the movies more intriguing.
Perhaps one of the most outstanding actor of our times who borrows a lot from Stanislavsky’s system is Tyler Perry, who created and performed the character, Madea. Madea is a very tough black American woman. In the film Madea’s Big Happy Family (2011), Perry displays skills of method acting in trying to into the character Madea and he succeed in achieving that. Being a man himself taking the role of a woman is not an easy thing to do. At one point in the movie, Perry drives her car through one restaurant when she could not be served breakfast that day and she was not served the biscuit sandwich she wanted. Perry takes up the role of Madea in such an artistic manner because his imagination comes to play. His voice also best befits the character and he ends up owning Madea and, therefore, does not act but rather, shows the specifics. For instance, Perry rolls his eyes just like any mad woman could, and veers the car into the restaurant without thinking twice.
Women are believed to get overtaken by emotions especially when they are mad. In this context, Perry is in a public place, a restaurant. His actions may have been conceived in a given circumstance. He had gone to buy breakfast at the right time just before ten. An arrogant cashier, Renee rudely tells her off and in a spurt of anger; she rammed into the restaurant and brings it down. At the same time, Perry had to deal with the inner truth that was directing his emotions in the character of Madea. Naturally anyone could have gotten mad if they came face to face with such an arrogant cashier.
Perry, as seen in the Madea movies is one man who owns the character in totality and presents him in the best of ways that cannot be comparable to any other character. He replicated real life circumstances of a mad matriarch whose personal needs have not been met. The mannerisms and emotional feelings attached to this scene are all too natural because ideally, the cashier is somehow rude to her. Throughout the movie, he stands out not because he is a major actor but because he also acts as Joe Simmons and if the viewer was not aware of this fact one may never know. Perry embraces the Stanislavski system and uses it to make his roles legitimate and real by giving them dramatic strength from this school of acting (Lively Art 102).
Work Cited
Lively Art: Acting for the Stage: Chapter Five. PDF File
