The method actors they often impress us with the lengths they go to in order to get inside the psyche of their characters. Although Daniel Day-Lewis is one of the best known performers in this field, in recent years more and more actors have emerged who do not hesitate to stay in character for very long periods to polish their performance.
And although we are very often impressed… the one who is not impressed at all with this method is Mads Mikkelsen.
neither method nor method
During an interview with CQ UK to promote ‘Fantastic Beasts: Dumbledore’s Secrets’, Mikkelsen spoke about what it has been like to become Grindewald for the film and how he approached the character. In fact the Danish actor confirmed that he never uses the strategies of method actors and that he doesn’t understand what all the hype is about, saying that the whole thing is “a bullshit”.
“You can take [la preparación] up to madness. And if it’s a shitty movie, what do you think you’ve accomplished?” Mikkelsen said. “Do I have to be impressed that you haven’t gone out of character? You should have left from the beginning! How do you prepare to play a serial killer? Are you going to spend two years trying?
Mikkelsen did not stop there, he also pointed out how it is impossible to completely recreate certain characters, especially for actors who take part in period dramas and try to stay totally in character.
“I’m going to smoke a cigarette? But this is from 2020, not 1870… How can you live with it?”, the actor joked. “It’s too pretentious.”
“The media is always like… ‘Oh my god, he’s just taken this so seriously, so it must be great, let’s give him an award!’ he knows it, and it becomes a reality,” the actor also said, criticizing media attention as the main incentive for method actors.
Despite his criticism of method actors, this doesn’t mean that he doesn’t admire or respect certain actors, but he does say that their performances are due to the performers’ own talent and direction, not to constantly living within their character.
“Daniel Day-Lewis is a great actor, but he has nothing to do with this. I would have had a great time, just trying to get him out of character,” Mikkelsen also said.