The actress Jennifer Lawrence talks about her fears about stars who use that particular method to get into character.
It is no exaggeration to say that Jennifer Lawrence is one of the most important actresses in Hollywood of our times, and with her exceptional work in films such as The Games of Destiny and American Hustle, the 32-year-old performer has managed to impress critics and to the general public without problem. While Lawrence has spent a long time in the film industry, she recently revealed that working with method actors is something that makes her more than a little nervous.
But what is a method actor? Method acting is based on the idea that actors must immerse themselves deeply in the emotional and psychological world of their characters to achieve authentic and realistic performances. To do this, actors often use specific techniques, such as affective memory and detailed investigation of their characters' backgrounds and motivations.
The goal of method acting is to connect and experience the same emotions and experiences as the character in question, which implies an intense and deep commitment to acting. This extreme connection with the character often leads to a state of emotional immersion so deep in performers that they can experience lasting effects on their own psychology and emotions. There have been cases in which famous Hollywood method actors have taken extreme actions in order to get emotionally closer to their characters.
In a new Hot Ones episode of First We Feast with Jennifer Lawrence (via Variety), the actress spoke about her fears of working with method actors. The star of The Hunger Games – 84% has worked with industry greats who practice method acting, such as Leonardo DiCaprio (Don't Look Up) and Christian Bale (American Hustle), but says she has never felt uncomfortable working with them since they do not usually take the “method” to the extreme. This is what Lawrence said during the interview:
She would be nervous about working with someone who is a method actor. She would have no idea how to talk to them. Do I have to be in character? That would make me nervous. I haven't seen another [acting] process that I've been so curious about. You don't hear about them all the time.
Lawrence, who we have also seen in films such as Causeway, Joy: The Name of Success and mother! She said that working with Bale on American Hustle made her change her own acting process after seeing the Oscar winner go in and out of character on film. According to what Lawrence shared, Bale is not a 24/7 method actor, but rather he immerses himself in the character until he connects while the camera prepares to start rolling. Lawrence explained:
I had always been very on and off until I did American Hustle and worked with Christian Bale. I noticed that when the camera was getting ready to roll and the crew started getting ready, about 10 seconds before the action, he would start getting ready. I saw that and thought, 'That seems like a really good idea.' So I started doing that.
Method acting has been a quite controversial topic in the corners of Hollywood for some time now, since on several occasions, those who practice this technique have come to perform quite eccentric acts that have affected their cast colleagues and even themselves. themselves. Famed Scottish actor Brian Cox, who played ruthless Waystar Royco founder Logan Roy in the recently concluded HBO series Succession – 86%, has repeatedly shared his concerns about his castmate Jeremy Strong's method acting. , who in the show we saw as Kendall, Logan's son. Cox once told The New Yorker.
I've worked with intense actors before. It's a particularly American disease, I think, this inability to separate yourself while doing the work. The result Jeremy gets is always pretty tremendous. He only worries me about what he does to himself. I am concerned about the crises he undergoes to prepare.
