Anna Strasberg was not inclined to teach an acting class during her vacation in Hawaii, but she couldn't say no to a group of adolescents who wanted to learn from her.

“;The best thing we can do is teach these children acting because it gives them a voice,”; Strasberg said over Beethoven's 5th Symphony bellowing through the Hawaii Theatre—at her request—before her four-hour master class for the Hawaii Young Actors Ensemble began last week. Though it's difficult to reach children in pain, she explained, they are more apt to express themselves through a character.

For nearly 40 years, Anna Strasberg has carried on the work of her husband, famed acting coach Lee Strasberg, who died in 1982.

“;I'm so lucky and blessed ... to find a man you love and for him to teach you,”; Strasberg said in an accent cultivated in her native Venezuela and schools in England, and occasionally laced with a Southern drawl for her own amusement. “;He taught me to share the work. Lee would teach three people or 1,300.”;

The work she referred to is an approach to acting called the Method. In her words it involves “;starting with the real thing and taking it where you are able to give it a different art form.”; Even the most remote brush with theater includes an introduction to the Method, which encompasses the analysis of and immersion into the psychology of each character. To do this the actor must recall emotions from his own life to elicit a more realistic portrayal.

Though he did not invent the technique, Lee Strasberg is unquestionably the most famous name behind it. He is largely credited with advancing its use through the 20th century while instructing Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, Montgomery Clift, Paul Newman, Al Pacino, Marlon Brando, Dustin Hoffman, Robert DeNiro and Jane Fonda. He made sure the famous worked alongside the fledglings because the two groups always learned from one another.

By fine-tuning the ability to relax, concentrate and invoke sense memory and imagination, the Method allows both the actor and the audience to share the experience of the character. This is possible only when the actor believes in the reality of what he's doing.

According to an article in The Wall Street Journal, this part of Anna Strasberg's journey began back in 1967, when a young actress—then named Anna Mizrahi—auditioned to become part of Lee Strasberg's studio. She lost out to Jack Nicholson but soon married Strasberg, who was nearly 40 years her senior. Together they raised two children and co-founded the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute; she ran the business while he focused on teaching.

With locations in New York, Hollywood and India, the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute, now run by one of their sons, has trained a new crop of notable actors, including Angelina Jolie, Scarlett Johansson, Claire Danes, Uma Thurman and Alec Baldwin. Yet at any mention of coaching, Strasberg waves her hand and shakes her head.

“;I don't coach,”; she said. “;Coaching is giving someone the answers, whereas teaching or sharing is showing them that there are no answers other than the ones they have to discover for themselves. They have to learn to ask the questions. It's their discovery. That's what art is all about.”;

Princess Dialta Alliata di Montereale, a member of Italy's royal family and a Honolulu resident who studied with the Strasbergs for four years and has remained friends with Anna Strasberg for decades, was instrumental in keeping Strasberg in town past her departure date to teach what the princess found so valuable in her own life.

“;I just studied because I was interested in the Method itself,”; said Alliata di Montereale. “;I learned who I was and how to use my body, and I learned to observe other people.”;

Talent agent and former actress/model Shawna Watson also helped organize the class. She said that Strasberg's presence—for no fee beyond the expenses incurred—was an unparalleled opportunity for her clients.

“;First of all, she's a legend,”; said Watson, who owns Niche Models and Talent. “;She's been very generous to us; it shows her passion as a teacher. The tools she can provide us with as actors are tools that will stay with us.”;

Burton White, artistic director and general manager of the Hawaii Theatre, agreed. “;Method acting is something kids don't get a lot of direct access to,”; he explained.

Aside from the technique itself and Strasberg's reputation, it was this lively woman's energy that transformed the theater and inspired actors of all ages who chose to attend. Standing on stage, she repeated what her husband always taught his students: “;Don't learn the terminology; just learn to do the work. We don't teach you anything you don't already know. Don't depend on anyone to give you the answers. Be truthful. And trust the child in yourself.”;