Mads Mikkelsen was asked about his thoughts on method acting in an interview. He did not mince words.
There are actors who go to any lengths for their roles – some lose an alarming amount of weight, some don’t wash up for months, and some send their cast-mates dead animals (we all know who that last one in particular is).
RIP to them all, but Mads Mikkelsen is different.
The actor was recently asked about his thoughts on method acting in an interview with British GQ, and he did not hold back.
“It’s bullshit,” he said. “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!”
The actor claimed that while he’s meticulous – he’ll do the legwork and prepare what is necessary – but that’s about as far as his dedication goes.
“How do you prepare for a serial killer? You gonna spend two years checking it out?” he continued, somewhat ironically, since he’s known for playing one of the most famous serial killers in popular culture – Hannibal Lecter.
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Mikkelsen went on to add that method acting was – in simple words – pretentious, especially when the media concentrated more on the process and less on the product of said process.
“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.”
He also added that he can be ‘fairly annoying to work with’, and that he absolutely would have a gala time working with famously method actors, such as Daniel Day Lewis.
“I would have the time of my life, just breaking down the character constantly. ‘I’m having a cigarette? This is from 2020, it’s not from 1870 – can you live with it?’ It’s just pretentious. Daniel Day-Lewis is a great actor. But it’s got nothing to do with this.”
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