Why Hollywood Is Finally Over Method Acting

Method acting has developed a bit of a poor reputation in Hollywood over recent years, as more and more actors speak out against the practice.

Is immersing oneself in a role for months on end now being seen as too narcissistic, too try-hard and just plain uncool?

Well, Samuel L. Jackson, Mads Mikkelsen, Jon Bernthal, Will Poulter, Brian Cox, Toni Collette, Jake Gyllenhaal and a few more certainly seem to think so.

Laurence Olivier famously expressed his disdain for method acting when filming the 1976 film Marathon Man. Exasperated with the lengths his co-star Dustin Hoffman was going to for his role, he asked: "My dear boy, why don't you just try acting?"

This sentiment has reverberated throughout Hollywood again in recent years with actors like Jared Leto and Jeremy Strong getting some flack for taking their on-screen roles a little too seriously.

Earlier this month, Fantastic Beasts star Mikkelsen called method acting and proponents of the Stanislavski technique "pretentious."

"It's bulls**t," Mikkelsen said about method acting in an interview with GQ.

"But preparation, you can take into insanity," he explained. "What if it's a s*** film—what do you think you achieved? Am I impressed that you didn't drop character? You should have dropped it from the beginning! How do you prepare for a serial killer? You gonna spend two years checking it out?"

Similarly, Cox, who stars alongside Strong in HBO's Succession told The New Yorker that he worries about his on-screen son, who puts himself through hell playing the downtrodden Kendall Roy.

"I worry about the crises he puts himself through in order to prepare," the veteran actor said.

He added: "Actors are funny creatures. I've worked with intense actors before. It's a particularly American disease, I think, this inability to separate yourself off while you're doing the job."

Just this week, Jon Bernthal of The Punisher fame agreed in a THR interview that method acting has been "abused" by certain actors.

"And that's why these conversations are difficult for me, honestly, because every actor has a process. Having studied in Moscow at the Moscow Art Theater, I guarantee you that making everybody call you by your character name and not showering for eight months was not what Stanislavski had in mind with the method."

So why now is there a bubbling resentment for actors who employ the Stanislavski method?

Some of the most celebrated method actors of the last century include Daniel Day-Lewis, Joaquin Phoenix, Andy Kaufman and Christian Bale.

"Not everyone is skilled enough to employ the Method or don't have the necessary Stanislavski training," Mark Young, a Professor of Entertainment and Sports Business, Marshall School of Business, University of Southern California, told Newsweek.

"For me, those who are skilled enough to apply the Method are the greatest actors. It's not to say that great performers have to use the method but I think those who use it are in a different league."

Professor Young agreed that some actors may take their approach to method too far, much to the annoyance of their colleagues and potentially creating a dysfunctional set.

"Perhaps some method actors take it too far. This could be due to their deep-seated narcissism," he explained.

"By this, I mean that some method actors see the project as all about them. If this is the case then a set will become very dysfunctional and I can certainly sympathize with other actors involved in such a project."

Conversely, Young believes that if an actor famous for method acting, like Daniel Day-Lewis for example, was cast in a role, then those cast alongside him will be prepared to witness some Stanislavski technique in action.

"If you hire Daniel Day-Lewis it's because he immerses himself in a role. Others who sign on to a project involving Lewis should have a pretty clear idea of what they are getting into. If they don't want this type of filming experience they shouldn't engage in the project. If actors simply want a 100 percent fun or easy experience, they should not be involved with other actors who apply the Method."

He added: "If you sign on to a project that involves a well-known method actor then I think you must have a strong feeling about what you are getting into."

Actor Stephen Ford is also not a fan of method acting and feels that some actors may feel pressured to practice it in order to be taken seriously in their careers.

"I think in theory the practice of method acting is rooted in a desire to give the most authentic performance. However, that's mostly only in theory. In reality, it's kind of a complicated mess," Ford told Newsweek.

Known for starring in TV shows such as Teen Wolf, Switched At Birth and Private Practice, Ford argues that method acting has really become "an extremely pretentious practice of actors looking to be taken seriously as an artist while hoping to gain a certain amount of accolades for their commitment to a role."

"For instance, just look at the Academy Awards to see how actors who use the method approach. They are often adorned with praise from peers, press and the public," Ford explained. "At least that's what most actors see, from kids grinding out acting classes in North Hollywood to those who are headlining movies.

"Which in turn creates this fabricated sense of pressure that in order to be taken seriously as an actor, they too must lose 60 lbs or live in a cabin for six months and never break character until they've done the DVD commentary."

Ultimately, however, Ford feels that narcissism isn't always the driving force behind why actors chose to take on the method approach.

"I wouldn't say it's always coming from an egotistical sense of self-importance, usually I find it's the opposite, stemming from doubt," he said.

Speaking from his own experience, Ford said that he and many others have gotten "lost in the weeds" in the pursuit of becoming a better actors.

"Wrapped up in a desire to impress or do a role justice that you genuinely forget... you're acting."