Actor David Harbour, best known for his role as Sheriff Hopper on the hit Netflix series Stranger Things, has become the latest star to criticize method acting. Harbour joins a rising chorus of actors who have criticized the controversial acting method.
While method acting has been around for a while, it's only recently become heavily publicized. Actors such as Morbius star Jared Leto have been the subject of much criticism for their on-set antics and approach to method acting that many felt was either unnecessary or too far. Now, Stranger Things' Harbour has expressed why he finds the practice to be problematic.
"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.' I didn’t actually do it, obviously," Harbour said in a recent interview with GQ. "Not only is that stuff silly, it’s dangerous, and it actually doesn’t produce good work." Harbour also used actor Daniel Day-Lewis as an example, saying, "He’s an extraordinary actor who I’m captivated and fascinated by [but] when he explains his process it sounds like nonsense to me."
Harbour is just the latest famous actor to publicly criticize method acting. For example, actor Robert Pattinson, star of The Batman, recently told Variety, "You only ever see people doing method when they're playing an asshole." Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen dismissed method acting in an interview with GQ UK while promoting his recent film Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, calling it "bullshit." Actor Will Poulter, who is set to appear as Adam Warlock in the upcoming Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3, also recently shared his thoughts on method acting in an interview with The Independent, saying, "Method acting shouldn't be used as an excuse for inappropriate behavior – and it definitely has." In an interview with Collider, actor Samuel L Jackson also criticized method acting, saying, "It's a job of playing make-believe. You do it effectively and you do it in a way that's not harmful to you because it's a safe space. You're supposed to be able to safely come into this space, work and give emotionally, and not be harmed by it."
As mentioned, actors have been criticized for the extent of their method acting techniques. Leto in particular was heavily criticized after stories began circulating about his behavior when filming the first Suicide Squad movie, in which he portrayed DC Comics villain The Joker. These stories included outlandish things such as bringing a dead pig to set and sending his co-stars used condoms in the mail. More recently, Leto was alleged to have caused extended delays on the set of Morbius because he insisted on using his character's crutches at all times, pushing his bathroom breaks to 45-minutes. Despite the actor's dedication to the role of Dr. Michael Morbius, the film performed poorly both critically and at the box office.
While these are some of the more extreme examples of method acting, the process is still used by many other performers and has been around for many years. In fact, actors who don't practice method acting have also been critical of the process for some time. Famed actor Sir Laurence Olivier famously questioned Dustin Hoffman's devotion to his role in the 1976 thriller Marathon Man. When Hoffman admitted to the great lengths he went to portray his character, Olivier responded, “My dear boy, why don’t you just try acting?”
Stranger Things season 4 is now streaming exclusively on Netflix.
Source: GQ