Marilyn Monroe and the Method in comedy: A quiet revolution

 Marilyn Monroe occupies a singular place in the history of acting because she was the figure who made the application of Method acting to comedy visible on a large scale. This is not simply a matter of using techniques of interiority in a genre traditionally associated with lightness or external gesture, but of doing so as a global star and in a role conceived primarily as comic. Her work in The Prince and the Showgirl (1957) marks a turning point: for the first time, a mass audience could see how a central comic performance in a studio production was built using tools associated with the Method, such as the pursuit of psychological truth, emotional preparation, and the constant presence of an acting coach on set.

It is important, however, to introduce a necessary clarification. Marilyn was not the first performer to bring elements of the Method or psychological realism into comic contexts. Before her, actors trained in these approaches had already explored comedy from a place of interiority, especially in the theater and, to a lesser extent, in film. Performers such as Eli Wallach, for instance, applied Method principles to characters with humorous components on stage, though generally in secondary roles, theatrical productions, or without the massive visibility of a major Hollywood star. These precedents exist and matter, but they remained relatively contained and did not fundamentally alter the public perception of cinematic comedy.

The most frequently cited earlier example is Marlon Brando in Guys and Dolls (1955). Brando, already established as the most visible face of Method acting, brought aspects of his interpretive style into a musical with clear comic elements. In that sense, it is fair to say that he used Method tools in a context that included comedy. However, it is crucial to be precise: Guys and Dolls is primarily a musical, and the Method does not structure a performance that is predominantly comic in the strict sense. Brando’s comedy appears intermittently, embedded in musical numbers and specific situations, but it does not define the overall nature or construction of the role. This distinction is essential. Marilyn was not the first star to introduce the Method into a setting that contained comedy, but she was the first major star to create a performance that was predominantly comic and consciously built through Method acting.

In the theater, performers had integrated realistic training and comedy long before this. Figures such as Zero Mostel, or actors working in the off-Broadway circuit, brought considerable psychological intensity to comic characters. Some members of the Actors Studio, Eli Wallach among them, developed a versatility that included ironic or comic tones on stage. However, these precedents are usually found in theatrical contexts or character roles, not in the specific combination that matters here: a top-tier star, a central comic role, and a documented use of Method work on a commercial film set. When Marilyn’s trajectory is compared with these antecedents, the contrast lies not in technical originality, since the Method already existed, but in visibility and in the nature of the role. Elsie Marina is conceived as a comic character at the narrative center of a mainstream film, and Marilyn approaches her with tools of interiority that had previously been associated primarily with intense drama.

That qualitative leap occurs with The Prince and the Showgirl. During the shoot, Marilyn worked explicitly through Method acting, constantly supported by Paula Strasberg, her acting coach and the on-set representative of the Actors Studio. This approach led to the well-documented conflicts with Laurence Olivier, who embodied a completely different acting tradition. Olivier came from classical British theater, favoring an external, technical, and formal approach based on conscious control of gesture, diction, and rhythm. Marilyn, by contrast, sought internal motivation, emotional truth, and organic reactions, even if that meant repeating takes, disrupting the planned tempo of a scene, or relying emotionally on her coach.

The clash was fundamentally aesthetic rather than personal: two opposing conceptions of what acting should be. Marilyn worked from the inside out; Olivier from the outside in. These tensions are well documented and help explain why The Prince and the Showgirl has become a case study in the confrontation between Method acting and classical performance. The result on screen is revealing. Marilyn’s performance feels more alive, modern, and spontaneous, while Olivier’s appears more rigid and rooted in a theatrical tradition that was beginning to feel outdated in the context of modern cinema. Years later, Olivier openly acknowledged that Marilyn had been better than he was in the film. It is important to stress, however, that this cannot be attributed solely to the Method. Marilyn was already a master of comedy before her training at the Actors Studio. She possessed exceptional control of timing, rhythm, and comic construction. The Method did not create her talent, but it allowed her to deepen it and apply it to a more emotionally authentic and complex form of comedy.

Before The Prince and the Showgirl, Marilyn had already applied elements of the Method in Bus Stop (1956), though in a very different context. Her character, Cherie, is essentially dramatic, even if it includes occasional moments of humor. The performance is grounded in vulnerability, internal conflict, and emotional restraint rather than comedy as its primary axis. For that reason, Bus Stop cannot be considered a full example of the Method applied to comedy. It shows Marilyn as a dramatic actress using Method tools, not as a performer constructing a predominantly comic character through that technique. In this sense, Elsie Marina represents a clear break.

After The Prince and the Showgirl, Marilyn returned to integrating the Method into comic roles such as Sugar Kane in Some Like It Hot (1959) and Amanda Dell in Let’s Make Love (1960). In both cases, comedy is built upon an authentic emotional foundation, but these are more balanced characters across different registers. Sugar Kane combines comedy, drama, and musical performance, while Amanda Dell alternates romantic satire with moments of emotional vulnerability and musical demands. By contrast, Elsie Marina, while also containing dramatic and musical nuances, is conceived fundamentally as a comic character. This is why she remains the clearest example of a predominantly comic performance constructed through the Method.

In conclusion, Marilyn Monroe was not the first performer to use Method acting techniques in comic contexts, but she was the first major star to do so in a visible, sustained way and in a role that was primarily comic within a major studio production. Her work in The Prince and the Showgirl not only expanded the possibilities of cinematic comedy but also dismantled the notion that the Method belonged exclusively to drama. Marilyn demonstrated that laughter, too, can arise from interior truth, and in doing so she permanently redefined the relationship between comedy and modern acting.

References

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Goodreads. (n.d.). My Week With Marilyn / The Prince, the Showgirl and Me — Colin Clark (book listing). Retrieved February 1, 2026, from https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6012855-my-week-with-marilyn