The Dark Side Of Acting: 41 Times Movie Stars Went Above And Beyond For Their Roles

Many of these stories result from method acting. The punchline for many jokes about Hollywood is that it involves the performer staying in character even when the cameras aren't rolling.

And yes, the technique involves a lot of sacrifice, but not everyone in the industry is a fan of it. This spring, during a French Cinematheque masterclass in Paris, Oscar-nominated director Darren Aronofsky went as far as to say he hates method actors, calling the style "just something to hide behind, as opposed to doing the work and being professional."

Aronofsky, who has numerous big productions under his belt, including as Requiem for a Dream (2000), The Wrestler (2008), Black Swan (2010), and The Whale (2022), said, "[By all means,] do a tremendous amount of research and really work hard, but acting's make believe."

"If you're going to do an intense scene, [there’s nothing wrong with] keeping yourself isolated, focused, and ready in between takes to maintain that emotion. It's a sport, a game — only, to be a great basketball player, you don't have to be dribbling all the time. That's not how it works. You do your homework and get yourself ready. It's only a fake reality between action and cut," he explained.

The director didn't cite any names, though his leading man in the upcoming film Caught Stealing, Austin Butler, has been known to stay in character for long stretches, and when asked how he deals with method adherents, Aronofsky said that such an all-in approach could be "fine, as long as it's not debilitating for the rest of the crew,."

"It's fine if that's how [these actors] want to spend their time," he continued. "But I just encourage them to relax a bit."

English actor Robert Pattinson doesn't like the technique, either. Discussing his work in The Lighthouse (2019), Pattinson admitted there are plenty of challenges that come with playing a character who slowly descends into madness, but the star also highlighted he doesn't want to stay in that place for longer than he has to.

"It was a kind of no limit part, which I always really like," Pattinson said. "We'd do these completely wild scenes, and then literally after a take, you'd be exhausted. It's kind of cathartic. I don’t know how you'd be able to bring the part home. It would be impossible."

Though Pattinson respects the practice, it's not something he practices himself. "I always say about people who do method acting, you only ever see people do the method when they're playing an a–holes," Pattinson pointed out. "You never see someone being lovely to everyone while they’re really deep in character."

Everyone has their methods, and you can achieve great things in a number of ways—hopefully, without making others miserable, too.