Natalie Portman isn’t down with the Method acting technique.
The Oscar winner, 42, got candid with the Wall Street Journal about the widespread Hollywood practice of actors deeply inhabiting their roles and why it is not her cup of tea.
“The Black Swan” lead admitted that she has never tried Method acting before and that many women couldn’t undertake the process.
“I’ve gotten very into roles, but I think it’s honestly a luxury that women can’t afford,” Portman said.
“I don’t think that children or partners would be very understanding of, you know, me making everyone call me ‘Jackie Kennedy’ all the time,” the “May December” star added.
Portman then explained how Method acting wouldn’t help her fulfill her duties as a mom to her kids Aleph, 12, and Amalia, 6.
While Portman will avidly prep for a role, such as stunt training and even changing her diet, she is still able to distance herself from the character after filming a project has concluded.
“Maestro” star Carey Mulligan also recently discussed the idea of going Method for films.
The 38-year-old noted that she never attempted the technique until she starred in Bradley Cooper’s recent biopic, “Maestro,” about composer Leonard Bernstein.
“There was a part of me as an actor that always felt like, ‘Well, I’m never going to be one of those actors that keeps their dialect in between takes,’ ” Mulligan told Variety.
The “Great Gatsby” actress said she was “nervous of completely committing to something.”
She added that Cooper — who directed and starred in the Netflix drama — told her before they started shooting: “If you’re going to do this, you just have to fully, fully do it.”
“When he said that, I was like, ‘OK, I’m going to absolutely do it all.’ I’m going to do all the research. I’m going to do all the dialect stuff. I’m going to do everything,” Mulligan said. “So that when I get on set, I am 100% able to just feel like I’m onstage and have that sense of ‘I don’t remember what happened.’ ”
A medley of male actors have been advocates for the Method formula, including Daniel Day-Lewis, Jared Leto, Marlon Brando and Christian Bale.
However, the famed Tinseltown strategy has also been controversial among certain members of the A-list elite.
Mads Mikkelsen once called the process “bullis – – t” and said that “preparation . . . can take [you] into insanity.”
“We’re the Millers” star Will Poulter is also not fond of the technique.
“When it comes to an actor’s process, whatever that is, so long as it doesn’t infringe on other people’s and you’re being considerate, then fine,” he told the Independent in 2022.
“But if your process creates an inhospitable environment, then to me you’ve lost sight of what’s important. Method acting shouldn’t be used as an excuse for inappropriate behavior — and it definitely has.”
