Brian Cox has been quite candid this year about how he feels about method actors, from his “Succession” co-star Matthew Strong to Daniel Day-Lewis. It turns out he’s not the only actor that looks askance at the acting style. THR reports that Jennifer Lawrence says she’d be “nervous” to work across from someone using the technique because them being in character all the time would weird her out.
Lawrence made her comments on the most recent episode of “Hot Ones” where the actress appeared to promote her new comedy “No Hard Feelings.” “I would be nervous to work with someone who’s Method [acting],” when “Hot Ones” host Sean Evans asked her about the technique. “Because I would have no idea how to talk to them, ’cause like, do I have to be in character? That would just make me nervous.”
For those who don’t know, method acting is a style that encourages an expressive performance from the actor through deep identifications with a character’s inner life and motivations. Thanks to recent comments by Cox and Strong, method acting has been a point of contention in Hollywood. For example, Andrew Garfield defended the technique on Marc Maron‘s podcast year. And, of course, Cox and Strong’s differing opinions went viral thanks to the popularity of “Succession.”
But back to Lawrence, who explained that while she doesn’t understand method acting, she recognizes her personal techniques have changed over her career. “I had always been very on/off on/off until I did “American Hustle” and worked with Christian Bale, who I noticed when the camera started rolling and the crew started preparing and it would be about 10 seconds to action, he [Bale] would start getting ready,” the actress said. “I saw that and was like, ‘That seems like a really good idea.’ So then I started to do that.”
Lawrence also told Evans that she’s done method-adjacent prep for certain roles. “I learned how to pick locks on “Red Sparrow.” I haven’t used it, but to know that I could is cool,” the actress joked. She also mentioned that she learned how to hold a falcon for the 2014 film “Serena.” No word on if Lawrence did similar prep for her role in “No Hard Feelings.” In the new raunchy comedy, Lawrence plays an Uber driver in dire straits financially who answers a Craigslist ad to “date” a soon-to-be college student to get him out of his shell in exchange for a car.
What would the method acting prep even be for a role like that? Whatever it may be, Lawrence isn’t telling. “No Hard Feelings” hits theaters everywhere today.
