Method is madness, Hopkins says
They are two British actors at the peak of their profession both starring as major figures in highly acclaimed new Hollywood movies. In the Steven Spielberg epic Lincoln, Daniel Day-Lewis looks uncannily similar to Abraham Lincoln, the U.S. Civil War president. For Hitchcock, Sir Anthony Hopkins donned a fat suit and prosthetics to assume the proportions of the English thriller director.
But as their characters stare out from billboards, there could not be a clearer difference between the approach the two men took toward playing their roles.
Day-Lewis, 55, an avid practitioner of method acting, insisted throughout filming that the cast — and even Spielberg — refer to him as “Mr. President.” He urged the other actors to remain in character in his presence, even after shoot- ing had finished for the day.
But Hopkins, 74, makes clear he is no fan of such techniques. Asked for his thoughts on the Lincoln cast being asked to stay in character, he said he had no desire to be addressed as Mr. Hitchcock on set.
“I think that’s a lot of crap,” Hopkins told The Huffington Post website. “I just don’t understand that. If actors want to do that, fine. If they want to be miserable, that’s up to them. I’m not interested. It’s a job.
“Who the hell wants to be with some miserable grump because he wants to get his performance right, so you have to call him this or call him that? It’s so boring. I’ve been with actors like that and … they’re unpleasant to work with and I don’t think they’re always that good, either.”
Day-Lewis said he preferred not to talk about his style of acting and admitted it sounds “pretentious.”
He felt a “great sadness” when the film was completed.
“Without sounding unhinged, I know I’m not Abraham Lincoln,” he said. “But the truth is the entire game is about creating an illusion, and for whatever reason and mad as it may sound, some part of me can allow myself to believe for a period of time without questioning, and that’s the trick.”
As the annual Oscar season of glad-handing begins after the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday, Hopkins made it clear he would not be wooing the Hollywood insiders who vote.
The awards campaign circuit was “nauseating to watch” and “disgusting to behold,” Hopkins said archly. “People go out of their way to flatter the nominating body and I think it’s kind of disgusting. That’s always been against my nature … It makes me want to throw up, it really does.”