Yes, I could indeed do a fairly beige review of A Complete Unknown, which I watched several weeks ago. But hearing about ol’ Timmy’s Method approach to Bobby D on set has prompted me to give some examples of my favourite Method stories from the halls of cinema.
So, to clarify, Chalamet has claimed that he’s not a method actor. And from the look of the article I read, one of his ‘crazy’ antics for his maverick method role was…learning a Minnesota accent. Co-star Edward Norton reported that the actor had ‘No visitors, no friends, no reps’. Other Co-star Elle Fanning said that Chalamet would often ‘keep to himself’ on the set. None of these anecdotes sound particularly outlandish. At least not ‘outlandish’ in terms of the stereotypical method stereotypes, anyway. I guess some articles just need a clickbait kind of headline to fish in those sweet, sweet views. But anyway, here are some of my favourite method tales.
– Tom Hardy, Warrior: Weight Gain
What’s that? You thought I was going to go for Fury Road for this actor? Wrong. While there were plenty of stories about Hardy clashing with co-star Charlise Theron on George Miller’s set, there’s a much more traditional method weight gain story when it comes to Warrior. And Hardy’s certainly no stranger when it comes to huge weight gains.
Hardy’s strategy this time around involved a strict no-carb, no-sugar diet which, in his words, made him ‘foul-tempered, belligerent and unreasonable’, and elegantly admitted that he ‘fucked a lot of people off’ during film production. Great stuff. But Hardy’s belligerent behaviour also produced a powerful performance as ex-marine Tommy, so that’s something.
Some claimed that Hardy channelled the ‘affective memory’ method acting technique in this instance, essentially drawing on past experiences such as his own struggles with alcohol abuse. Hardy knocked the doubters out of the park with this intense display of vulnerability and pain.
– Daniel Day-Lewis, Last of the Mohicans: Forest Fun
There’s an endless number of stories to choose from one of the biggest method actors of all time, but I’m going to go for The Last of the Mohicans, since that’s just about my favourite Day-Lewis performance (but when it comes to individual moments, the award has to go to the darkly comedic ‘I…drink…your…MILKSHAKE’ scene from There Will Be Blood). While many of today’s modern actors might get assistance from a coach when it comes to learning fight choreography or how to use certain lethal weapons, Day-Lewis wasn’t going for that shiz. Many of those modern actors would prefer to learn their trade in the safety of their own dojos, but Day-Lewis refused such luxuries.
While Day-Lewis had spent a mere few days in solitary confinement to prepare for In the Name of the Father, he decided to go full forest man (is that a phrase? No) for Mohicans, apparently spending an entire month in the wilderness. According to The New York Times, he learnt how to ‘hunt and skin animals, fight with tomahawks, and run and gun with a heavy 12-pound flintlock’. As you do. Wild. In more ways than one.
– Nicolas Cage, Ghost Rider: Egyptian Antics
Come on now, you knew the Cage meister had to get a mention in here somewhere. He even gave his acting style a name: Nouveau Shamanic. It’s a blend of German Expressionism and Japanese kabuki theatre. Groovy. And what has he done to certify his method credentials? Well, he’s eaten cockroaches in Vampire’s Kiss. And, um, requested hot yogurt to be poured over his toes in the same movie. To…increase his desire during the sex scene. As Tesco definitely didn’t endorse…every little helps?
I’ll have to give a shoutout to Cage’s Ghost Rider antics, though. To get into mood of things on set, Cage claimed he painted his face black and white. And titled himself as an ‘Afro-Caribbean voodoo icon’. Not very PC, sure, but these were different times. I guess. He also endeavoured to adorn his costume with ‘Egyptian artefacts that were thousands of years old’ through the power of sewing. Hmm. Cultural appropriation? You decide.
– Jaime Foxx, Jared Leto, Blade Runner 2049: Eye (don’t) see you
What is it with some actors and eyes, man? Why have you got to subject yourself to odd shiz like that? I’m not sure. Jamie Foxx famously portrayed blind musician Ray Charles in biographical drama Ray. This was apparently more of a directorial choice than Foxx’s own, but apparently Foxx had to glue his eyes shut for 14 hours a day so that prosthetic eyelids could be fixed in place. Ouch.
With the next anecdote, though, you’ll probably be unsurprised to learn that Leto ‘blinded’ himself out of pure choice. Just to get himself in the groove of the character, you know. And to be fair, he does play the role of bad guy Niander Wallace in Blade Runner 2049 rather well. Probably because Wallace is a massive narcissist with a sizable god complex. And probably because that’s how I imagine Leto being in real life. It would have been nice if David Bowie had still been alive at this point (director Denis Villeneuve wanted to cast him in the role), but I guess we can’t have everything.
– Al Pacino, Heat: Ass Admirer
There’s something to be said for the 0 to 11 approach. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn’t. Perhaps you need to be in a certain kind of mood. Main man Nicolas Cage can usually pull it off. Usually. But sometimes it’s even better when the line lands and it’s also off script. That’s right, improvisation. Pacino is known for his method acting in a lot of stuff, and has frequently worked with directors to try and get into his character more.
And sometimes, that involves a bit of divine inspiration. Divine ass-piration, one might say. Okay, enough of the puns. One moment occurred during Heat, the finest Pacino and De Niro collab so far (no, not you The Irishman). When Pacino is verbally tearing Hank Azaria’s shmuck to pieces for having an affair with a criminal’s wife, at one point he just goes wide-eyed and declares: ‘I bet she’s got a GREAT ASS’, complete with lewd hand gestures to get his point straight home. Hank Azaria confirmed the improvisation during a director’s commentary, admitting that it ‘scared the hell out of me’. Nice.
– Ryan Gosling, The Lovely Bones: Weight Gain
What’s that, you say? Gosling isn’t in this movie? You’re correct. He isn’t. But he would’ve been, if he hadn’t gone full method without consulting Lovely Bones director Peter Jackson. This is probs one of my fave method acting tales, especially with the redemption arc that followed. Gosling was all set to play Jack Salmon, the grieving father of murdered daughter Susie. The Goz really felt the need to channel Salmon’s depression in physical form. And you know what that means. A bit of method weight gaining. 60 pounds of weight gaining, to be precise. Oof. Well, maybe not oof, in the sense that the weight gain was the result of eating huge amounts of melted Haagen Dazs. Yummy. Until you feel really unhealthy and then it’s not so yummy.
The actor said that he had a different idea of how Salmon should look than Jackson. He thought the character should weigh in at 210 pounds, so he got to work on crafting the flab. Once Gosling arrived on set with the new look, he was duly fired, replaced by Mark Wahlberg and described himself as ‘fat and unemployed’. But hey, there are swings and roundabouts with such bodily choices. Silver linings, if you will. Gosling walked away from that job and channelled that, uh, big guy energy (can you say the word ‘fat’ these days? I think not) into a critically acclaimed role in Lars and the Real Girl as, uh, Lars. And Austin Butler was inspired by Gosling’s Haagen Dazs method when beefing up for his role in Elvis, employing similar techniques to pack the pounds on. Good work.