Aronofsky Is Not A Fan Of Method Acting

“The Wrestler,” “Black Swan” and “The Whale” filmmaker Darren Aronofsky held a masterclass in Paris on Saturday where he made a surprising admission – he “hate[s] Method actors”.

Aronofsky appeared on stage for a career retrospective organized by the French Cinematheque and while not citing any actor in particular, he spoke about a dislike of method acting in which actors never break character performance, and how it can impact the rest of the production:

“[It’s] just something to hide behind, as opposed to doing the work and being professional. [By all means,] do a tremendous amount of research and really work hard, but acting’s make believe.

If you’re going to do an intense scene, [there’s nothing wrong with] keeping yourself isolated, focused and ready in between takes to maintain that emotion.

It’s a sport, a game – only, to be a great basketball player, you don’t have to be dribbling all the time. That’s not how it works. You do your homework and get yourself ready. It’s only a fake reality between action and cut.”

Asked about how he deals with the Method actors he works with, he says:

“Fine, as long as it’s not debilitating for the rest of the crew… It’s fine if that’s how [these actors] want to spend their time, but I just encourage them to relax a bit!”

The comments have been met with some wry amusement over the fact that his most recent film, the upcoming crime caper “Caught Stealing,” stars actor Austin Butler who has been known to stay in character for stretches.

Aronofsky had nothing but praise for his star, saying he was the film’s anchor and they “sort of built a world around him”.

Source: Variety

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