Andrew Garfield claims method acting is more than just “being an asshole”
Andrew Garfield has responded to critics of method acting who have said that the technique is pretentious and dangerous. Garfield is bothered by a misunderstanding of what method acting is actually all about.
Discussing the topic, Garfield said: “There’s been a lot of misconceptions about what method acting is, I think. People are still acting in that way, and it’s not about being an asshole to everyone on set. It’s actually just about living truthfully under imagined circumstances, being really nice to the crew simultaneously, being a normal human being, and being able to drop it when you need to and staying in it when you want to stay in it”.
Method acting is a rehearsal acting technique that suggests that actors create sincere performances by identifying with the character that they are portraying. This includes understanding their background, profession and inner motives and desires.
Garfield continued: “I’m kind of bothered by the misconception; I’m kind of bothered by this idea that ‘method acting is fucking bullshit.’ No, I don’t think you know what method acting is if you’re calling it bullshit, or you just worked with someone who claims to be a method actor who isn’t actually acting the method at all.”
He added, “It’s also very private. I don’t want people to see the fucking pipes of my toilet. I don’t want them to see how I’m making the sausage.”
The actor David Harbour had recently said that he thought that method acting was “silly and dangerous”. Detailing further, the Stranger Things actor said: “When I was younger – it’s so embarrassing – but I remember playing that famous Scottish King, and being like, ‘I’m gonna kill a cat’, or something, ‘I’m gonna go murder something to know what it feels like to murder’.”
He added, “I didn’t actually do it, obviously. Not only is that stuff silly, it’s dangerous, and it actually doesn’t produce good work.”
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