1) Several actors criticized method acting, with Mads Mikkelson calling it "bullshit" and saying an actor shouldn't spend years preparing for a role like a serial killer. 2) The criticism seemed directed at Jared Leto, known for taking method acting to extremes like using crutches between filming as his Morbius character. 3) Extreme method acting, especially interactions with others, lacks distinction between character and actor contexts and can be disturbing when the character mask remains outside of filming. Proper method acting shifts between these contexts.

1. Keziah Camille Rezaey
20 April 2022
Brief #4: Method Acting, Masking, and Contexts
When asked about method acting, actor Mads Mikkelson did not hold back, stating “It’s
bullshit…How do you prepare for a serial killer? You gonna spend two years checking it out?”
Mikkelson continued on saying that the method was pretentious and that the media should not
continue to praise actors who take their acting to such depth. Samuel L. Jackson echoed similar
sentiments saying that an actor ought to contribute to a positive work environment, stating “It’s a
job of playing make-believe. You do it effectively and you do it in a way that’s not harmful to
you because it’s a safe space. You’re supposed to be able to safely come into this space, work,
and give emotionally, and not be harmed by it.” Robert Pattison noted “You only ever see people
do method acting when they’re playing an asshole.” While their sentiments were not directed at
any one person, many seem to believe due to the timing of such statements that this was a dig at
a well-known method actor who has taken it to the extremes – Jared Leto. In his recent film
Morbius, it was said that he maintained use of his character’s crutches in between filming so as
to stay in character, which led to bathroom breaks that would take up to 45 minutes. Viola Davis
claimed that on set of Suicide Squad, Leto sent co-star Margot Robbie a rat in a box, as he
believed it was something fun and silly that the Joker would do. Even worse, it was said
someone else on set was given a dead pig.
Chad Engelland in his Unmasking the Person writes that “To see or be in a film or play is
to enter a new context, and this shift in context alters the way appearances are to be taken” (449).
Engelland asserts that between appearing on screen or on stage, in an interview discussing the
role, and in all the other ways an actor can be tied to a film or show, the actor is actively entering
different contexts, which then changes how we see the actor. In some contexts, we see the
character they are playing versus them as an actor. If this is the case, then it would seem that
method acting to the extremes that Leto takes it, is a failure to understand the appropriate
contexts or the failure to exercise the shifts into new contexts. It may even be that the actor
recognizes the context, and yet, they still choose to remain in an inappropriate context.
Engelland uses the example of the umpire who suffered from a heart attack being booed
by fans as an example of a failure to distinguish the context. Accordingly, extreme method
acting, especially as it relates to interactions with other people, lacks such a distinction. Jared
Leto is not the Joker, and therefore, there was no need to act in accordance with the character’s
choices, especially when such a character is known to be violent and disturbing. On the part of
co-stars, such acts can be seen as outrageous in that they are no longer in the context of the film
or show, and thus, the other person is not seen as with the mask of the character, and instead seen
as simply themselves. There is no reason to expect that outside the context of filming or
performing that the mask of such a character would remain. When Robbie received the “gift”
from Leto, she would not have interpreted it as an act from his character, the Joker, but an act
done from himself, the actor and co-star. This is why extreme method acting can be seen as
particularly disturbing to some people. Outside of filming, when looking into the eyes of an
actor, you see someone you know personally first and foremost, and never the character first.
In the case of Leto, when asked about his peculiar on-set gifts, he stated “I’m an artist at
the end of the day. If I do something risky and you don’t like it, basically, you can kiss my ass.”
Because he stated that the Joker was comfortable with violence, he believed that such violence
needed to translate outside of filming so that he can truly engage in the mindset of his character.
Many have contrasted this with Heath Ledger’s acclaimed performance of the Joker, while Leto’s

2. has been regarded as one of the worst iterations. Ledger too adopted a method acting approach,
but upon reading his methods, I would characterize it as more of intensive character research.
Ledger’s research into the Joker was done in isolation and was more of an experimentation with
voices and mentality, but it never extended outside of filming or upon others. While Leto has
been known to stay in character between cuts, Ledger kept any character explorations within a
journal, where he would write notes once filming concluded and his interactions with others
remained within the context of him as an actor. Leto’s comment on being an artist perhaps hints
that since he recognizes his methods are risky, he is acknowledging that he is bordering or
overstepping the changing contexts of actor and character.
As Engelland states, “To be a person is to be attentive not only to what appears but also
to what, tellingly, does not” (456). For method acting, especially as it pertains to Leto, there is a
failure in or even lack of empathy regarding such attentivity. When he engages in actions that
align with his character outside of filming, the other will not recognize at first that the
personhood of the actor is being concealed, and that the person intends for the character to
appear. Such actions can be confounded with the personhood of the actor rather than a fictional
character who does not even exist in the context of real life. It is reasonable to state that most
will not recognize the masking of personhood by a character performance outside the context of
watching or performing in a film or show. This is precisely reasonable because extreme method
acting in fact violates proper contexts.