Darren Aronofsky has hit out at method actors, describing the practice as “something to hide behind”.
Despite working with the likes of Christian Bale, Jared Leto and Austin Butler, Aronofsky, whose next movie Caught Stealing is set to be released in August, told attendees at a Paris masterclass organized by French Cinematheque that he’s not a fan of the technique.
“I hate method actors”, he said (via Variety), telling the audience that the decision not to break character is “just something to hide behind, as opposed to doing the work and being professional.”
He went on to compare acting to training as an athlete, explaining: “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.”
The sporting analogy was made in the context of Caught Stealing, in which Butler plays a former baseball player who finds himself immersed in the criminal underworld of 1990s New York.
He described the movie as being “anchored” by Butler, and likened it to his previous film Black Swan, which won an Oscar in 2011. He also explained that the darkness so often prevalent in his films is intertwined with the global climate, adding: “Trump is the most famous person in the world, so I need to work even harder to be an optimist. With all the challenges we’re facing, I try to think about all the things that can connect us — and what I’m trying to do with my work now.”
As well as starring Butler as Henry ‘Hank’ Thompson, Zoë Kravitz, Regina King, Matt Smith, Liev Schreiber, Will Brill and Bad Bunny all feature. The movie is based on the 2004 book of the same name by Charlie Huston, and was produced by Columbia Pictures in association with Protozoa Pictures.
Meanwhile, it was reported in November 2023 that Aronofsky was working on an Elon Musk biopic made by A24, based on Walter Isaacson’s biography of the billionaire. His most recent movie was 2022’s The Whale, starring Brendan Fraser and Sadie Sink, which split critical and commercial opinion and won two Oscars.
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