Method acting is considered the gold standard in film and theater performance. Lee Strasburg taught her method to many of the greatest actors in America. Marlon Brando, Dustin Hoffmann and Paul Newman are three great examples, but the greatest Method actor isn’t a Strasburg student. It’s Meryl Streep. No matter what she does, she does it so believably well that we forget that it’s Meryl Streep.
Streep does not claim to be a Method actor. She received her acting education at Yale, and she says that she draws from many techniques to create her characters. She employs other performing arts, such as singing and dance to free herself up and assume the role of a character, but clearly, she knows how to dig down and find a place to really connect with her role. Anyone in doubt about her vast acting ability only needs to follow her long and successful career from earlier works, like “Sophie’s Choice,” to more light fare, like “Mama Mia.” She is always completely engaged and completely believable.
Many actors will simply walk through a movie with no award potential, but Streep treats every script like a great work of art worth her full attention and creativity. What make her Method-like acting so perfect is that we never feel like she is in the process of digging in to pull out the role. It just seems so effortless and natural. Film and theater historians will be teaching about Meryl Streep for many, many years to come. Although some actors turn in performances as artistically perfect as hers, they just don’t do it consistently. Just because someone took instruction from Lee Strasburg doesn’t mean they were successful with the Method. A good example would be Marilyn Monroe. No one really remembers her as an actor. That’s not to say she didn’t create some good roles, it just wasn’t consistent enough to be her legacy.
Meryl Streep, on the other hand has sealed her place in history for her singular prominance as one of the great actors.