Mads Mikkelsen Isn't a Fan of Method Acting and Calls it "Bulls***" and "Pretentious"
Mads Mikkelsen has some harsh words about method acting, and he’s clearly not a fan of it. In a recent interview with GQ UK, the actor said that Method acting is “bullshit” and “pretentious”.
Benedict Cumberbatch recently did the whole method acting thing with his role in The Power of the Dog. Jared Leto is also known for doing it, and he recently starred in Morbius and House of Gucci. Other actors that have used Method acting in some of their roles include Daniel Day-Lewis, Edward Norton, Tom Hardy, Sally Field, Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet, Robert De Niro, Tom Hanks, Leonardo DiCaprio, Al Pacino, Nicolas Cage, and more.
When talking about Method acting, Mikkelsen said:
“It’s bullshit. But preparation, you can take into insanity. What if it’s a shit film — what do you think you achieved? Am I impressed that you didn’t drop character? You should have dropped it from the beginning! How do you prepare for a serial killer? You gonna spend two years checking it out?”
Mikkelsen then took on a mocking voice when adding, “I’m having a cigarette? This is from 2020, it’s not from 1870 — can you live with it? it’s just pretentious.” He then went on to blame the media to equating these Method acting stunts to actual acting skills.
“The media goes, ‘Oh my god, he took it so seriously, therefore he must be fantastic; let’s give him an award.’ Then that’s the talk, and everybody knows about it, and it becomes a thing.”
Mikkelsen was then asked if he would ever want to work with any legendary Method actors like Daniel Day-Lewis, and he said:
“I would have the time of my life [with him], just breaking down the character constantly. Daniel Day-Lewis is a great actor. But [Method acting has] got nothing to do with this.”
I always thought Method acting was a little weird and there are a lot of crazy stories about actors going a little too far with it in preparation for a role. I’ve also heard it makes things very difficult for the cast and crew during the production of a film. But, to each their own!