10 Method Actors Who Annoyed Their Costars

Method acting was invented by the Russian theatre practitioner Konstantin Stanislavski in the early 20th century. Stanislavski believed that actors needed to stay in character at all times in order to give perfect performances. This way, they could draw inspiration from their personal experiences and stitch their off-set emotions into their on-set work. In America, the approach was popularized by Lee Strasberg and Elia Kazan, after which many talented actors of the Golden Age of Hollywood adopted it. Since then, it has become a preferred method for a select group of actors.

However, method acting isn’t always comfortable for classical actors, who prefer analyzing their characters from the outside. Such actors are always bemused by costars who try to express themselves as if they were experiencing the lives of the characters they play. Unsurprisingly, several complaints have been tabled against method actors by their costars over the years. And some of the stories are as entertaining as the movies themselves.

10

Jeremy Strong

‘Succession’ (2018 – 2023)

Jeremy Strong’s Succession character, Kendall Roy, often struggles to prove his worth to his billion dad, Logan Roy (portrayed by Brian Cox). Logan derides Kendall at every chance he gets, and the hatred seems to have also spilled off the set.

Cox has been quoted criticizing Strong’s method acting several times, calling it “annoying,” and adding that the young actor needs to let loose and relax with “a hit of marijuana.” His boldest assessment? “Strong would be an even better actor if he just got rid of that.”

Strong’s Approach Has Paid Off

Cox tends to be highly opinionated, hence some fans might disagree with him. Strong has received multiple awards in his career, including a Primetime Emmy Award, a Tony Award, and a Golden Globe Award, so his extremes aren’t for nothing.

Other fascinating method-acting stories about Strong include him being asked to be doused with tear gas for a protest scene during the filming of The Trial of the Chicago Seven. Aaron Sorkin declined, not wanting to put the actor or any of the extras in danger. And Robert Downey Jr., who starred alongside Strong in The Judge, said that Strong’s style “crosses the Rubicon.”

9

Shia LaBeouf

‘Fury’ (2014)

A favorite movie for veterans and servicemen, Fury follows an Allied squad riding on an M4 Sherman tank (nicknamed Fury) as they venture into the heart of Germany during the final weeks of WWII. Shia LaBeouf plays one of the crew members and, according to the Daily Mail, he didn’t shower for weeks to perfectly replicate the conditions of the war. This got his well-groomed co-star, Brad Pitt, and several other cast members furious.

LaBeouf Prefers to Be Called an “Immersive Actor”

Despite what his actions say, Shia LaBeouf doesn’t think he is a method actor. During a conversation with Bishop Robert Barron on YouTube, he said:”

“I think people put that [method label] on me. I don’t identify with that school of thought, really. I don’t really know what I do, where it comes from or how it happens. “I like to be immersive. I like all immersive experiences, not just acting… I like adventure and that requires full immersion so I would consider myself an immersive actor. Method acting had a bad smell to it and is kinda douchey. Just like, mean, you know.”

“Bad smell” is perfect wording under these circumstances. For Fury, his work didn’t exactly pay off as the film’s acting awards only went to Brad Pitt.

8

Daniel Day-Lewis

‘Phantom Thread’ (2017)

In Phantom Thread, Daniel Day-Lewis plays a dress designer who falls for a waitress and uses her as his muse. Lewis is known and respected for his method acting, but co-star Vicky Krieps, who plays the said waitress in the film, wasn’t impressed, describing the actor’s behavior as “tiresome.”

Krieps Feels It’s Overacting

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Release Date

December 25, 2017

Runtime

131 minutes

You’d expect everyone to worship a performer like Daniel Day-Lewis on set, given his Hollywood standing. Krieps confessed to The Telegraph that everyone did indeed lick the actor’s boots… except her.

“I am a person who thinks we are all equal. We all sit on the toilet. I could see it all like a circus. I just didn’t get afraid. I get it. It’s a game. I’ve played it. But can we just talk normally now, please?”

Krieps didn’t walk away with any accolades for her work in the film. However, she has appeared in over 20 more projects since its release. Lewis, on the other hand, received a routing Best Actor Oscar nomination.

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7

Tom Hardy

‘Mad Max: Fury Road’ (2015)

Max and Furiosa are a perfect duo in Mad Max: Fury Road, but costars Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron did not get along on set, because of the former’s intense method acting. Director George Miller acknowledges that “they were just two very different performers.”

Theron Swore Off Method Acting

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Release Date

May 13, 2015

Runtime

120

Theron was once a method actor herself but swore off it after her exhausting experience in The Devil’s Advocate. In Mad Max, Hardy wanted more intensity, while Theron wanted to be done with each scene and finish what had been a stressful shoot. Both actors, therefore, had a legitimate reason to dislike each other.

6

Jared Leto

‘Suicide Squad’ (2016)

“We live in a society where honor is a distant memory,” says Jared Leto’s Joker in the Justice League Snyder Cut. It appears Leto wasn’t honorable at all during his first stint as the Joker. During the shooting of Suicide Squad, the actor reportedly remained in character and kept pranking costars. He sent the cast condoms, bullets, and a dead pig, and allegedly gifted Margot Robbie a rat. Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje received a “sticky Playboy magazine.” Viola Davis confessed she hated it all. She thought of taking out pepper spray and shouting, “You remember that bullet you sent me?”

Leto Was Eager to Fill Heath Ledger’s Boots

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Release Date

August 5, 2016

Runtime

123 minutes

Leto’s extremes were understandable, as he was taking over the Joker mantle from Health Ledger, who had done an incredible job. Before him, Jack Nicholson had also wowed audiences. Sensibly, Leto couldn’t afford to just cruise through his role. Unfortunately, the effort didn’t pay off because the movie had a poor script.

Still, Leto is proud of the work he did, and unlike Shia, he doesn’t mind being labeled a method actor.

“I appreciate the term, I think it’s a little cloudy, the definition. And, it could also be really pretentious as well. I was thinking of it as my job to show up and do the best work that I can. It’s my job to show up, do whatever I can, to be overprepared. And to deliver. It’s also my job to show up and, you know, be a pleasure to work with. And, and, and, and to be collaborative, and to have a good experience on set.”

5

Marlon Brando

‘Last Tango in Paris’ (1972)

Last Tango in Paris — telling the story of an American widow’s relationship with a young Parisian woman — drew much controversy for its depiction of sexual assault, causing it to be censored in different jurisdictions. Things weren’t great on set either, as Brando kept wanting his co-star Maria Schneider to “feel, not to act,” but she wasn’t interested in being part of his extreme methods.

Brando Lost interest in Method Acting After the Film

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Release Date

October 14, 1972

Runtime

127

Cast

Marlon Brando
, Maria Schneider
, Maria Michi
, Giovanna Galletti
, Gitt Magrini
, Catherine Allégret

According to The New Yorker, Brando stopped paying too much attention to method acting after realizing how much people cared. The actor is quoted saying:

“In subsequent pictures I stopped trying to experience the emotions of my characters and began simply to act the part in a technical way. I was certain that “the audience doesn’t know the difference.”

Interestingly, some of Brando’s critics feel he lost it after he became more technical. A look into his post-Tango films proves that this could be true. The accolades were fewer and the hit films can be counted on one hand.

4

Dustin Hoffman

‘Marathon Man’ (1976)

In Marathon Man, “Babe” Levy (Dustin Hoffman), a graduate student, gets roped into a plot by Nazi war criminal Christian Szell (Laurence Olivier) to retrieve illegally acquired diamonds from a safe deposit box that belonged to Szell’s dead brother. Olivier was reportedly so pissed at Hoffman’s method-acting that he told him, “My dear boy, why don’t you just try acting?”

Method Man

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Release Date

October 8, 1976

Runtime

125 minutes

According to The Guardian, Olivier’s harsh words came after Hoffman derided his senior for not showing the same level of commitment. Hoffman allegedly prepared for a scene in which Babe had been awake for three days by doing the same himself. Still, Hoffman claims Olivier was just joking, but he isn’t around for us to hear his side of the story.

A couple of years later, Meryl Streep would also complain about Hoffman’s method of acting as they were filming one of the greatest divorce movies of all time: Kramer vs. Kramer.

3

Jim Carrey

‘Man on the Moon’ (1999)

There was no better person to star in a biopic about the legendary entertainer, Andy Kaufman, than Jim Carrey. Man on the Moon tells the comedian’s story, wrapping up what was a perfect ‘90s run for Carrey. But was there decorum? Paul Giamatti angrily recalled how Carrey carried cheese in his pockets while channeling Kaufman’s Tony Clifton persona, claiming he smelled “horrible.”

Carrey’s Performance Left Critics ‘Over the Moon’

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Man on the Moon

Release Date

December 22, 1999

Runtime

118 Minutes

Giamatti might have hated Carrey’s excesses, but both audiences and critics appreciated his performance. He won the second Golden Globe in a row, after The Truman Show. According to the documentary, Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond – Featuring a Very Special, Contractually Obligated Mention of Tony Clifton, Carrey’s performance was so real that people close to Andy, including family and friends, felt like they had him with them again.

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2

James Anderson

‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ (1962)

James Anderson was detestable in To Kill a Mockingbird. He portrayed a racist father who falsely accused a black man of raping his daughter. Mary Badham, one of the child actors in the film, recalls that Anderson stayed in character and that he “gave everybody the willies, and we all didn’t like being near him.”

A Memorable Villain Role

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Release Date

December 25, 1962

Runtime

129 minutes

Cast

Gregory Peck
, John Megna
, Frank Overton
, Rosemary Murphy
, Ruth White
, Brock Peters

To Kill a Mockingbird was a widely successful film. It received eight Oscar nominations, but Anderson wasn’t among the recipients. Did he need to go to those extremes? It’s debatable. The actor never received any other major accolades for his other films, and his work in the 1962 coming-of-age crime film remains the high mark of his career.

1

Vincent D’Onofrio

‘Full Metal Jacket’ (1987)

Full Metal Jacket is undoubtedly one of the greatest military boot camp movies, and in it, a young Vincent D’Onofrio gives a chilling performance as an overweight Private Gomer Pyle, who becomes Gunnery Sergeant Hartman’s target of bullying. Pyle slowly becomes unhinged throughout the film and according to co-star Matthew Modine (who portrayed Sgt. Joker), D’Onofrio was pretty much the same. Modine recalls that D’Onforio “just got weirder and weirder as he went into the world his character was entering into.”

A Feud Erupted

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Release Date

July 10, 1987

Runtime

116 minutes

Modine’s dislike of D’Onofrio’s method-acting led to a full-blown feud on set. D’Onforio didn’t think Modine took his work seriously, so much so that he threatened to beat him up. The hate was mutual, and Modine felt like he could “kill” D’Onofrio. Apart from his feud with D’Onforio, Modine has several other complaints about the film, stating that Beckton Gas Works was a toxic environment for the film crew and that Stanley Kubrick refused to let him leave the set so that he could be with his pregnant wife in the delivery room.