In a December New York Times interview, Kristen Stewart commented on method acting, highlighting how the practice has become masculinised. “Have you ever heard of a female actor who was method?” seems to be her thesis statement. “Performance is inherently vulnerable and therefore quite embarrassing and unmasculine. There’s no bravado in suggesting that you’re a mouthpiece for someone else’s ideas.” This section of the interview has garnered attention after it was clipped and went viral on Instagram and Twitter. As the interview has sparked discourse online, some are beginning to question the nature of method acting and how it has evolved in tandem with Hollywood’s power structures.
So, what is method acting? In recent times, it has been misunderstood; It is not necessarily “staying in character 24/7”. The origins can be traced back to Konstantin Stanislavski, a Russian actor whose influence has lasted generations. He developed a “System” for acting by drawing upon the actor’s personal emotions rather than trying to pretend to feel. From Stanislavski comes two pervasive interpretations of the “System”: Lee Strasberg believed in drawing upon personal experiences to bring out the personal emotions, i.e., remembering a pet dying before a scene where your character cries. For Strasberg, actually being in pain gave powerful performances of pain; he dubbed this “The Method”. Stella Adler believed in becoming so familiar with your character, you could imagine everything they felt and know it intuitively. According to Adler, if your character is a chef, you should learn how to cook. Marlon Brando, having studied under Adler, took from her a greater understanding of subtler acting styles rather than a full commitment to method acting. Brando’s explosion into popularity subsequently led to many misattributing method acting to performances that were not necessarily method. The post-Brando generation – DeNiro, Hoffman, Pacino, etc. – took their understanding of method acting (as “The Method”) and ran with it.
Method acting took over the US with this generation of actors. As time went on, they adapted the principles of “the Method” to points of intensity. Daniel Day-Lewis is probably the “method actor” with the most infamous stories. For The Unbearable Lightness of Being, he learned Czech. For The Last of the Mohicans, he lived in the woods for a month, learning to hunt and skin animals. For Gangs of New York, he caught pneumonia because he refused to wear a historically inaccurate coat between filming. He also refused to take modern medicine and nearly died as a result. This level of commitment, as exemplified by Day-Lewis, may have led to the current generation pushing it even further. This leads us to Jared Leto preparing to play The Joker in Suicide Squad. Reports came out about a dead pig being sent to the cast and a live rat being sent to co-star Margot Robbie. This seems to be the point at which “method acting” lost mass appeal. Even if Leto’s performance in the film was celebrated in the same vein as Day-Lewis’ are often celebrated, method acting started being seen as an excuse for actors to misbehave. In 2019, Stewart’s former Twilight costar, Robert Pattinson, claimed in a Variety interview, “you only ever see people do the method when they’re playing an a–hole”.
Stewart solely attributing method acting to men, though, is incorrect. Meryl Streep, Hilary Swank and Ellen Burstyn have all used method acting with varying levels of commitment. However, we must avoid the same sensationalism that immediate critics of Stewart have leapt to. The wider point that she is making is about the liberties afforded to male and female actors. As Natalie Portman put it in a 2024 interview, “it’s honestly a luxury that women can’t afford”. The issue is that the standards of conduct expected from male actors are much lower than those of their female contemporaries. Though female actors have gone method and been celebrated for it – Hilary Swank lived as a transgender man for a month for her Oscar-winning role in Boys Don’t Cry – there is a stark difference between male and female modes of “The Method”. Dustin Hoffman won an Oscar for his performance in Kramer vs. Kramer, during which time he used method acting strategies. Except Hoffman’s means of immersing himself in the scene was emotionally and physically abusing his co-star, Meryl Streep. Simply put, you would never hear a story of a female actor tormenting their coworkers for a performance when countless male actors have done so.
The real conversation is around the legacy of men in the film industry feeling they have carte blanche to exert power over their female counterparts due to their status in the industry. Consider Stanley Kubrick and his notorious treatment of Shelley Duvall during the making of The Shining: Duvall’s very real distress shines through while on-screen and maybe it makes her performance better, but nonetheless Duvall never anticipated “The Method” when she signed on for the film. Kubrick used his power as the director to allow him the liberty to force Duvall into a state of terror that she never consented toMore than that, he presumed he had the right to do so. To quote Stewart, “If a woman did that, it would be different”. The deconstruction of method acting in recent years may be traced back to the Me-Too movement, in which the power structures of Hollywood were exposed. Analysing how omnipresent these power structures are in the industry includes a discussion around the behaviours of male actors. After hearing about Dustin Hoffman’s treatment of Meryl Streep, should we be surprised that he has been accused of sexually harassing a 17-year-old intern while filming the TV movie, Death of a Salesman? Was he method acting then?
Stewart’s argument that performing is unmasculine touches upon why method acting has gotten so out of hand. The post-Brando generation that so heavily engaged with method acting practices was afraid of what it meant to be truly sensitive. They wanted to be Brando, not only in the sense of acting talent, but also with the status of Brando: the rich and powerful male actor. Brando himself abused his power, including sexual misconduct on the set of Last Tango in Paris. To undo the damage that power structures in Hollywood have caused, viewpoints like Stewart’s need to be taken seriously. It is not about method acting as good or bad; it is about how even acting styles can be weaponised as a tool of oppression in the hands of those with power. At all times, how power can manifest itself should be questioned and Stewart, in this interview, practises that. The sensationalist responses to Stewart’s critical view of “The Method” echo an unwavering commitment to the post-Brando Hollywood, gender and the nature of acting.
