method actor

noun

variants or less commonly Method actor

plural method actors also Method actors

: an actor who seeks to gain complete identification with the inner personality of the character being portrayed : an actor who uses the Method technique (see method sense 4)

As a method actor, she internalizes the problems and attitudes of her role, and hangs on to them with a terrier's tenaciousness, making them her own for as long as she needs them.

—Michael Ryan

In that vein, it was amusing to watch an accomplished actor … when he plaintively asked (this was in the script) the oldest Method actor's refrain in the book: "I mean, what's my motivation here?"

—Don Aucoin

Examples of method actor in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The seemingly throwaway reference is actually the result of years spent dissecting Dion's every move with the dedication of a method actor preparing to portray a historical figure. —Dave Quinn, PEOPLE, 29 May 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1955, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for method actor

• benefactor
• chiropractor
• malefactor
• multifactor
• subcontractor
• acter
• factor
• tractor
• attractor
• cofactor
• compactor
• contactor