Much has been made of method acting over the years, with the term being used and abused so much, that people generally misunderstand what it actually means. When people usually talk about The Method, they are referring to actors who stay in character on-set and go to extreme lengths when preparing and playing characters. Some of the best actors of all time have used some of these controversial techniques.
In between crying with pain while eating ultra-spicy chicken wings on the legendary YouTube series Hot Ones, Oscar-winner Jennifer Lawrence was asked about acting methods and if she’d learned anything from any of her co-stars over the years. “I would be nervous to work with someone who’s method, because I would have no idea how to talk to them. Cause like; ‘do I have to be in character?’ That would make me nervous.”
“But I haven’t really seen a process that I’m curious about, because you don’t really know about them [what the other actor has done to prepare]. I had always been very on-off, on-off until I did American Hustle and I worked with Christian Bale. I noticed that when the camera started rolling and the crew started preparing, and it was going to be ten seconds or whatever until ‘action,’ he would start getting ready. I thought that seemed like a really good idea, and I started to do that.”
Lawrence was promoting her new, raunchy R-rated comedy movie, which our No Hard Feelings review called; “a raunchy comedy done right and serves as a reminder of Lawrence’s range and star power as a whole.” After appearing in the Hunger Games and X-Men movie franchises, Lawrence has slowed right down – appearing in approximately one movie per year since 2017. These include Mother!, thriller movie Red Sparrow, and independent drama Causeway.
Christian Bale was recently seen in Gothic thriller The Pale Blue Eye on Netflix and Amsterdam with Margot Robbie and John David Washington. Check out our guide to the best drama movies.