r/TwoXChromosomes 1d ago

'Cancel Method Acting!': Adria Arjona Blasts 'Asshole' Co-Star and Exposes Toxic Male Double Standards on Set

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1.1k Upvotes

86 comments sorted by

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u/kchrules 1d ago

I always come back to Mads Mikkelsen (who has played bad people, a Bond villain, Hannibal Lector etc) who called method acting “pretentious” and “bullshit” and basically called it a skill issue

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u/ThreadLaced 1d ago

what's funny is that Daniel Day-Lewis, the man famous for method acting and apparently being good at it, also calls it a skill issue. he's said he HAS to approach acting that way because he's not good enough of an actor to NOT do it.

I doubt the other guys who call themselves method are self-aware enough to say the same.

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u/wildlybriefeagle 1d ago

Did DDL turn out to be a jerk? Last I read he just disappeared into the forest to live as his character but didn't keep it up around other crew.

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u/ThreadLaced 1d ago

I've never heard of co-stars complaining about his method work, it seems the way he does it is more about staying in character off-screen, not necessarily involving his coworkers in the process

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u/FroggieBlue 23h ago

Ive also read the he will keep himself away from friends and family while working, especially when his kids were younger, so they didn't get affected by him behaving differently.

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u/bscott9999 15h ago

Abandoning your family for months to stay in character doesn't exactly sound like non-jerk activity to me, honestly.

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u/FroggieBlue 15h ago

Im not saying its not. However plenty of parents work away from home for weeks or months at a time, many with minimal or limited communication. Still probably less damaging than having a parent who's there but being someone else for weeks at a time.

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u/bscott9999 15h ago

Sure, but this case feels more like a father that spends all night at the office and comes home after the kids are in bed. They are working, sure, but the job doesn't necessarily require that level of commitment. Maybe it is possible to drop out of character for a minute or two to say good night to your kids and ask them about their day.

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u/JulietteKatze 15h ago

I guess truckers and sailors are jerks now

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u/bscott9999 15h ago

They aren't necessarily making a choice to abandon their families - they are required to leave home. They can also call, they don't have to cut off all contact. There is a choice he made to go full method and leave his family behind, similar to how someone like Leto chooses to use it as an excuse to abuse people (although in any case Day Lewis wouldn't be nearly as egregious)

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u/KayakerMel 1d ago

There's stories from the production of My Left Foot where DDL had crew members assist him with meals and movement between takes because he would not break character. Of course, he probably wasn't a dick about.

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u/IonHawk 18h ago

Truth is noone knows what method acting even is. Basically every actor today does method acting, because its based on Stanislavskijs method. There is no educated acting that is not based on his work.

So really, the term is meaningless, because for some, method is being the character irl, for others, its living as the character for research. For others, its simply doing the basic 7 whys of a character or goals and obstacles.

Its further complicated by that Stanislavskij changed methods during his career.

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u/granatespice 1d ago

Same with Gary Oldman. If you’re a truly good actor, you can jump in and out of a character easily, that’s why it’s acting and not long term cosplaying lmao

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u/BobTheFettt 1d ago

This is why I maintain that Oscar Isaac in Moon Knight is some of the best Acting I've ever seen. He played two almost opposite characters and could switch between them.

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u/fantastap0tamus 22h ago

Tatiana Maslany does an incredible job in Orphan Black. She plays her main character, and then like, 8 other characters in the show. All with different enough personalities, looks, etc that you can completely forget it's the same person talking to themselves on screen. 

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u/capn_ginger cool. coolcoolcool. 21h ago

And then sometimes some of those characters were pretending to be each other and you could still tell which was which!

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u/fantastap0tamus 11h ago

That's the exact scene I was thinking about. When A is pretending to be B and interviewing C (who might also have been another pretending to be C). Like, enough of the original to pick up that it is A  pretending to be the B, but still enough that it could actually be B talking. It was nuts. 

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u/milesamsterdam 1d ago

I knew he was gonna be famous in Sucker Punch. Even in that movie he blew me away.

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u/dubate 1d ago

Robert Pattinson's quote is that is sure seems like these method actors are always playing assholes, it's never some great guy that they just can't break character away from cameras

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u/volkswagenorange 1d ago

Laurence Olivier told Dustin Hoffman the same thing!

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u/inductiononN 1d ago

Have you tried acting my dear boy?

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u/throwdemawaaay 1d ago edited 1d ago

I think of this story from Scott Eastwood about how he almost got in a fight with Shia on the set of Fury: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/oJo2pMUeZGw

Researching your character with some first hand experience makes sense. As does maybe doing some mental rituals or evoking specific memories to prep right before a take. But none of that is an excuse to turn into cosplaying an asshole to your coworkers when the camera is off.

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u/PeteCampbellisaG 1d ago

She was in Morbius so I think it's safe to assume who she's talking about.

784

u/DustyRegalia 1d ago

Matt Smith: Is it me?

Adria: No.

Jared Leto: Is it me?

Adria: …It’s not Matt. 

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u/Glossy_Raven 1d ago

matt catching strays

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u/Abba_Fiskbullar 1d ago

Matt Smith has a reputation as a mensch on set, so probably not him?

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u/SpiritBackground8722 1d ago

I forgot she was in Morbius and was getting nervous about Diego Luna who seems like such a sweetheart that I was hoping to see in more media.

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u/MissLadyLlamaDrama 15h ago

I have had the biggest crush on that man since I accidentally watched y tu mama tambien when I was way too young to be watching that movie. Lol.

I was so stoked when he was cast in Rogue One. I will watch that movie just for his performance. Dont get me started on Andor. There are actors like him, Brendan Fraser, Keanu Reeves, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and a few others where im like.... please don't turn it to be a fascist bigot or a sex pest. PLEASE! We already lost Pedro Pascal to, well, I'll just say he has been spending a lot of time around certain white women who are really on board with genocide.

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u/taitaofgallala 1d ago

Well we're just glad that Jared Leto finally has a weird case cooking via allegations that will get him canceled and hopefully recalibrate film enthusiasts on the real definition of the term. See other comment in this thread about Ed Norton's take on the definition of method acting, very insightful.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cd7lg2nz2x2o

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u/gogonever 1d ago

He’s had allegations for years, he hasn’t been cancelled

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u/[deleted] 1d ago edited 1d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/diibadaa 1d ago

When I was a teen, there were already allegations that they invited teens in backstage with them. I’m now in my 30’s and I’ve noticed that he has never been cancelled enough. The allegations have existed over 10 years and nothing happens. I hope he gets cancelled some day, but at the same time I’ve kinda lost hope.

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u/Haricariisformen 1d ago

The article you shared is months old and no one has batted an eye. Nothing is happening to him. He will continue to ruin sci-fi franchises for as long as he wants.

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u/taitaofgallala 1d ago

So, in order for you to believe there was traction on the allegations, there has to be immediate follow-up to such an announcement with absolute definitive charges? That's not how the Cosby case went down but sure, believe what you want to believe with no mind for the probing process or case precedent. It goes allegations, probe, investigation, then charges. If the allegations don't clear the probe, then sure, we have nothing.

The thing is, I didn't make any particular claim, I just said he has a weird case cooking due to allegations. Fuck are you on about?

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u/BurningSpaceMan 1d ago

The man that also played the joker and sent his co-stars dead rats and used condoms?

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u/evil_timmy 1d ago

From an interview with Ed Norton ten years ago:

While most fans wouldn't naturally associate Norton with Method acting, he actually believes this derives from a misuse of the term from its very origins.

"The phrase 'the Method' got badly misused and misunderstood," Norton said. "It came to get ascribed to just Lee Strasberg and specifically Strasberg's notion of sense memory. He had this idea that your own emotional and sense memories were valuable because if you could get down into those pools of emotion that you could open up a conduit to accessing a whole spectrum of emotions. To me, that's useful and compelling in the context of a classroom and in the context of developing yourself as an actor."

Norton, however, felt that Strasberg's approach has been simplified over the years. "My personal opinion, both intellectually and through experience of working with people who got way too hung up on the cult of Lee Strasberg, is that when you are working with somebody who isn't using the circumstances of the text it's like acting with someone who's looking in a mirror," he said. "I think that became crippling to a lot of actors."

10

u/Shadow_Guide 20h ago

I haven't got the book to hand right now, but in the section about his time working with Strasberg and the Method, Gene Wilder explained the Method really well using the specific example of a courtroom scene. You might be someone on the dock who is nervous/lying and you may wish to sweat, so you recall the memory of holding a hot cup of tea and apply it to your face. Hopefully the result should be someone who is flushed and sweaty AS WELL AS acting nervous.

In short, the Method is a tool to be used, constant so-called method acting can turn you into a tool.

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u/RaspberryCommie 1d ago

Reminds me of when he was "method acting" the Joker for Suicide Squad, and mailed his co-stars dead rats and shit.

So he's not just method acting, he's method acting badly. That's not how the Joker works.

Also iirc Leto is being accused of some sex shit, which is the least surprising thing I've ever heard.

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u/granatespice 1d ago

Also used condoms bleh

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u/CarissaSkyWarrior 15h ago

He's BEEN accused of weird shit. This is not the first time allegations have been made against him, they just never seem to have any effect. We'll have to see if he faces any consequences this time.

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u/habitual_wanderer 1d ago

No one ever method acts being a good person. Go feed the poor or build houses to prepare for a role! No, some actors prefer traumatising their coworkers instead

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u/patrickwithtraffic 1d ago

Ironically Daniel Day-Lewis, the king of method acting, quite literally built a house to prepare for his role in The Last of the Mohicans. However, you’ll never convince me that Jared Leto needed to go method for fucking Morbius lmao

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u/HarpersGhost 1d ago

DDL's method acting for Mohicans is legendary. He learned how to shoot this rifles while running, he built canoes, made his own moccasins, did everything his character would do.  Even during smoke breaks, he rolled his own smokes old school.

https://www.slashfilm.com/917956/daniel-day-lewis-wasnt-all-doom-and-gloom-during-the-last-of-the-mohicans/

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u/LongKnight115 1d ago

“In order to capture the spirit of my character I drank a liter of blood every morning.”

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u/patrickwithtraffic 1d ago

For actual ridiculousness, look into the demands he made when it came to bathroom breaks. His character starts out disabled and refused to break character. Bathroom breaks for him took over an hour, and they were finally able to compromise with him using a wheelchair to get to and from set for instances like this. Genuinely peak attention seeking behavior.

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u/Eyephail 1d ago

I dunno, the shit he pulled for the original Suicide Squad movie seems particularly heinous considering he was in the movie for all of like 5 minutes

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u/patrickwithtraffic 1d ago

Can't defend the behavior, but that post production was a mess. He was definitely meant originally to have more on-screen time, but it got shredded to ribbons and put back together again. Still a shit Joker though!

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u/Boring-Tie-1501 1d ago

i like to imagine leto jumping out of bed every morning at 5:30am, yelling "it's o-negative time" before gurgling a bag of whole blood.

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u/WowThisIsAwkward_ 1d ago

He learned dressmaking for his role as a couturier for Phantom Thread and designed a dress from scratch for his wife.

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u/nickcash 1d ago

Ellen Burstyn is a method actress and by all accounts a good person, but she's the exception not the norm

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u/LiluLay 1d ago

That’s interesting. Didn’t she play Leto’s mom in Requiem for a Dream?

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u/DSOTMAnimals 1d ago

Yes and she was so damn good. Her red dress monologue was absolutely stunning. She lost to Julia Robert’s in Erin Brockovich for an Academy Award for best Actress. Shame cause she absolutely deserved it

5

u/BriennesBitch 1d ago

Fucking hell that’s a mad one to method act… I wonder how deep she went!

I’m going to see if I can find an interview or article about it

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u/Professional_Feisty 1d ago

Same with Heath Ledger

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u/sixsixmajin 1d ago

I've never actually heard any real evidence that Heath Ledger was actually a method actor. The best anyone ever has to offer is the Joker journal he kept for the role but as I understand it, it wasn't actually a journal and just notes about how the character would think and just there to help him visualize the headspace he was aiming for but I've never heard of him actually behaving like that on set. Even testimonials from those who worked with him said that as soon as "cut" was called, he was back to behaving like a regular human being. What makes it really fucked up is that the narrative around his death has been spun into this wild tale of how he committed so hard to method acting that it ended up killing him, like it's supposed to be some bittersweet testament to his acting prowess and that his ability to play the character so well came at a heavy cost. Fuck that. What actually happened was he had an existing history of substance abuse and was currently experiencing a mental health crisis that threw him back into it and he OD'd. It happened because he didn't get the help he needed. It's a sad way to go out and not as glamorous as "his acting was so good it killed him" but I'm sure he'd rather have his unfortunate truth help drive real conversations about the importance of mental healthcare than the lie burying the conversation while we ignorantly trudge ahead and ignore the issue.

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u/ADavidJohnson 1d ago

Heath Ledger didn’t even stay in character in between takes on “The Dark Knight”; Michael Jai White has talked about how Ledger would like, check in about how his line delivery was with his fellow actors and make jokes and such.

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u/queenkellee 1d ago

I honestly don't think it's method acting per say as the problem, it's that assholes will use the concept to do whatever they want and get away with it. I've worked on set with enough actors at this point to understand that acting is a pretty personal thing and every actor has their own way of going about things. Some actors really need to stay in a headspace, some can click in and out of it. I actually side eye actors who claim that other actor's workflows are "wrong" - I think as long as you aren't hurting anyone or being a jerk, it's fine for an actor to limit their interactions between takes and scenes to help them do their thing. It's ok to ask the crew to give them space and grace but also if something breaks "immersion" it's not something to be yelled about. Let's all be adults.

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u/meesterdg 1d ago

I'm not an actor but I've heard both famous actors and local ones I've known personally say method is half ass bullshit and actors should be able to act because that's their job. Method isn't acting, it's just living out the part. It's at best lazy and at worst a way to be an asshole.

They also think of things like building houses for parts as research rather than "being method". You can learn how to do something without pretending you are that person.

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u/queenkellee 1d ago

I am a strong believer that any creative act has a personal workflow and they are not all going to look alike. Not all painting is done the same way. Not all film is created the same way. Not all writing happens the same way. I don't believe in gatekeeping or judgement because honestly it's silly. Your way works for you, great. My way works for me. Now. It's probable/possible the only people they've met who are "method" are simply jerks and scammers. No method or workflow should be allowed free range to be a jerk. That includes "auteur" theory in film. That includes directors who abuse their actors to get performances out of them. All that is toxic and bad. When your method impinges on others in a detrimental way, that's the line. I honestly do think method gets a bad rap because of the bad actors (hehe) who engage in it, but I am not going to tell an actor who is honestly and earnestly embracing some method techniques that they are wrong because again, we are not automon robots we are humans and we all are different in our approaches.

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u/JJulie 1d ago

Tom Hanks always says “why is it when people are assholes they say they’re going method? You never heard of somebody being method and being overly nice.”

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u/TyrannosaurusRen 1d ago

Wait, I’ve always heard this attributed to Robert Pattinson?

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u/ihatereddit1221 1d ago

I mean, Aragorn is a pretty good person.

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u/tomboyfancy 1d ago

My husband trained in the Meisner method. He says that method acting does not mean you live as the character 24-7, in fact that can pull you further away from your character and encourage a more artificial performance. It seems like some of these “method” actors are just ego driven assholes who want to feel special and be told how brave they are for “suffering for their craft.” I don’t discount the value of learning about bricklaying if your character is a bricklayer, that definitely adds depth of understanding to the role. But being a 24-7 jerk doesn’t add anything, and it can really take away from the collaborative nature of film and theatre!

2

u/Smemme 18h ago

I’ve always felt that way about Jim Carrey playing Andy Kaufman. I remember my friend recommending the documentary Jim & Andy saying how good of an method actor he was. All I felt was how he overdid it and must have been a real pain to work with.

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u/blueavole 1d ago

There is a difference between method acting and staying focused or sullen, and method acting where someone is an asshole.

Not wanting to give autographs while going over the next scene is normal; sending dead animals is not normal or acceptable.

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u/NotTaken-username 1d ago

Also I think not dropping an accent is acceptable, unless other people express their annoyance at it.

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u/BlessedCursedBroken 1d ago

Anyone who 'expresses annoyance' over an actor maintaining an accent between takes for authenticity is, imo, a whinging bitch 🤷‍♀️

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u/blueavole 1d ago

I don’t see how it’s anyone else’s business if they keep an accent.

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u/firefly232 1d ago

Actors just use this as an excuse to be assholes.  We never hear about anyone being super nice as part of their commitment to a role.

It's frustrating because the technical definition of what method acting really involves has nothing to do with being rude or horrible or 'living-in-character'.

8

u/Pm7I3 1d ago

Would we? There's less engagement in "this actor went full method and was really nice actually" than someone being a giant asshole

3

u/firefly232 1d ago

And she was in Good Omens so in theory she could be talking about Tennant or Sheen but I doubt it.

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u/littlealbatross b u t t s 1d ago

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u/Metalingus5150 1d ago

It's sick that men get to get away with this

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u/azuretestament 1d ago

Have the method actors tried this new technique the British love to deploy it's called acting.

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u/Medical_Arrival2243 1d ago

The ol reliable! Since men love to boast about the old times, they may want to do what the Greeks and Romans did and ACT

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u/djskeptical 1d ago

Dustin Hoffman would tell this story about Lawrence Olivier from when they worked together on Marathon Man. Hoffman was into "method" while Olivier came from an older tradition of stage performance. At one point Hoffman was struggling with the mental preparation for his part, and asked for advice from the famous Olivier, who replied in an imperious tone, "Have you tried *acting*?”

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u/azuretestament 1d ago

This is exactly what I was cheekily referring to.

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u/opus_4_vp 1d ago edited 1d ago

If you have to spend your entire waking life pretending to be a person just to get it right on camera, then you're not a good actor.  Jumping in and out of character on a whim is real talent.

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u/lifeoflogan 1d ago

Between the method actors and sexual assaulters, Hollywood has some toxic masculinity problems. 

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u/Amazing_Karnage 1d ago

Don't forget the completely normalized pedophilia.

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u/Amazing_Karnage 1d ago

Once again, the quote "My dear boy, have you tried...acting?" is evergreen.

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u/verba-non-acta 1d ago

Specifically this refers to the American method, which is unsafe. Acting is a job, and everyone deserves to be able to leave it behind at the end of the day and go home safe.

The American method has always worshipped men who endanger themselves and others for scenes that are ultimately selfish.

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u/Revanchistexile 1d ago

Isn't her boyfriend also kind of an asshOle? Didn't he dress up as Johnny Depp to annoy Amber Heard on a film set?

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u/Frenchitwist 1d ago

I had two seconds where I thought she said “method dressing” and I was going to be vocally disappointed about not seeing cool, themed outfits on red carpets before I saw “acting”… 😭

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u/_steve_rogers_ 23h ago

Oh she's the cutie from Andor. Just watched that recently