An Actor Prepares: An Actor Konstantin Stanislavski

An Actor Prepares is the first in a series of books about acting by Russian actor Konstantin Stanislavski. The series continues with Building a Character and Creating a Role. His original plan was to publish a single volume work in Russian consisting of the first two books. The first, however, was published as a stand-alone text in English with World War II delaying the publication of the second for a decade. Stanislavski was a well known character actor and director who developed a reputation as one of the top directors of his era. It was his approach to teaching actors how to train, prepare, and rehearse that became his legacy in his field. After performing in and directing productions for many years, Stanislavski became the co-founder, with Vladimir

In the 1940s and 1950s major figures emerging in Hollywood films and on the Broadway stage embraced the method. Among the performers who used it to strengthen the realism of their performances were Marlon Brando, Shelley Winters, Montgomery Clift, and James Dean. This was in direct opposition to the prevailing belief that it was the actual personality of the actor that should be at the center of a performance for the screen. The method connected more closely to the traditions of Broadway productions which meant that actors who adapted the method into their approach to performing were at first more likely to be found on the stage than on the screen. The book was first published in 1936 and although over time the approach taught became known simply as the “Method” it was and sometimes is still referred to as the Stanislavsky System. The system goes beyond serving as an introduction to becoming a Method actor. Through Kostya and Tortsov both of whom are fictionalized versions of Stanislavsky, ways of improving concentration and becoming more introspective and connected to one’s personal unconscious motives are also instilled in the