Animal work belongs to the school of Method acting but think of it like this… You won’t learn about it until you’re well into getting your “Master’s” of Method. Some of the greatest actors of our times have incorporated animal work into their characters. Anthony Hopkins based his character of Hannibal Lector on both a tarantula and a crocodile. Can’t you just see that?!? Dustin Hoffmann based his character in Midnight Cowboy on a rat and Marlon Brando played an ape in a Streetcar Named Desire and a Bulldog in The God Father. Why bother? Well, to add another dimension; something unexpected and animalistic. It can make the character seem dangerous, playful, heavy – the options are as varied as the animal kingdom itself. What’s more, it actually give you a skeleton on which to build the body of your character.
The best acting is always very, very specific. In fact, the conundrum is that the more specific you can be, the more universal your character becomes. So when you’re basing your character on an animal – say an ocelot, how would that affect your movement, your voice, your stance. What would you look like? Once you know that Jim Carrey based his character in Ace Ventura Pet Detective on a tropical bird you can “see” it immediately. How about a tiger? Or an elephant the like great actor Lee J. Cobbs used as his inspiration when he was playing Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman.
If you’re interested in seeing how this works in a workshop environment, check out this video.