Hangover actor Justin Bartha is more than just a funny actor, he is also a studied and intelligent actor. On November 16, he taught a class at Matrix Teen Company in Detroit, Michigan, on acting and the Meisner technique. He was joined by The Social Network actor Jesse Eisenberg. They taught a group of young thespians about acting and screenwriting while focusing the plays around education issues.

 

This style of acting was developed by Sanford Meisner in New York City and is used by famous actors such as Alec Baldwin. The actor develops an objective or answers "why am I doing what I am doing?". This allows the actor to focus on the emotion behind the words and actions. It further focuses on observations of an acting partner in order to play off their emotions and further connect with the character.

 

This will not be the last time Bartha works with this program, as he is set to continue working with the group through February 2014. He will also serve as a guest director, staging the play he helped the students develop and write. The production will open in April of 2014. The Matrix Teen Company is known for putting on plays tackling community issues such as AIDS, which is why this play will focus on education issues.

 

Justin Bartha is excited to work with such an innovative group of young thespians and it will be interesting to see what comes out of this change of direction.