Wait! Ethan Hawke also has thoughts on method acting

We’re once again trudging into the muck and mire of the Method. Method acting bubbles to the surface every few months, usually following a story of an actor being a) rude on set, b) annoying on set, or c) weird on set. This current news cycle began with Jeremy Strong, who last year made the shocking revelation that he takes his job very seriously, and to reach his Emmy-winning heights in Succession, he must focus on his character at all times.

Of course, this led to The Discourse™ and an increasingly distorted look at an acting style that’s been around for the better part of 70 years. Thankfully, hearing our calls for help, Ethan Hawke swooped onto our gloved arm to set the story straight.

Per IndieWire, Hawke spoke on the topic during a PGA panel moderated by TCM host Ben Mankiewicz in New York City this week. His 2022 docuseries, The Last Movie Stars, an exploration of the life and work of Hollywood power couple Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward, touches on the two actors’ usage of the Method and Hawke’s own experiences.

“If you’re going to make a documentary about Miles Davis, I really want to learn something about music,” Hawke said. “You hear all this talk about Method acting. It’s thrown around all the time. People say, ‘Oh, I guess he’s getting Method.’ My dad might say that. He doesn’t know who Stanislavski is. He doesn’t know what that means. But you hear the expression.”

How could I teach the audience what we mean when we say Method acting? Because I feel like if you don’t understand what Paul [Newman] and Joanne [Woodward] are chasing, this idea of not pretending to be a person, but to be the person in imaginary circumstances. That’s the essence of Method acting. It’s interpreted a lot of different ways. Yeah, Dustin Hoffman wants to stay up all night, or Daniel Day-Lewis builds an outhouse or whatever. It’s their interpretation of what the Method is working for them, and that’s the genius of what Kazan, Strasberg, Stanislavski were teaching. I felt like I needed something to show why some people spend their lives chasing this dream. It’s hard to do. It’s about cultivating your imagination in a very powerful way.

However, Hawke is not ignorant of the pitfalls of such a process because, as he said, “a lot of extremely gifted and inspired people are extremely selfish, and it works for them.”

I know that ordinary effort creates ordinary results, and the longevity and genius of Daniel Day-Lewis’ career proves that there’s method to his madness. I don’t sit in judgment—I find it endlessly fascinating. Personally, I think it’s crazy. But it works! So, far be it for me… People thought Jackson Pollack was nuts, or they thought Emily Dickinson was nuts. These are exceptional brains. Charlie Parker practiced the saxophone 12 hours a day. Can you imagine living with somebody practicing the saxophone 12 hours a day? But we’re still listening to his records, so you want to tell him, ‘Really, do six’?’

Ethan Hawke’s The Last Movie Star is streaming on HBO Max.