Andrew Garfield defends method acting; Recalls ‘starving’ himself of sex and food during Silence filming

Andrew Garfield recently joined the conversation about method acting and its perception in a new interview. Recently, actors such as Brian Cox, Mads Mikkelsen among others have called the process of method acting dangerous and also pretentious. Although Garfield in his interview on Marc Maron’s WTF podcast has defended the acting process.

The actor recalled his own experience as he spoke about working on Martin Scorsese’s Silence. The actor said, “There [have] been a lot of misconceptions about what method acting is, I think. People are still acting in that way, and it’s not about being an a*****e to everyone on set.” In terms of his own brush with method acting, Garfield recalled, “I had some pretty wild, trippy experiences from starving myself of sex and food at that time”, via Variety.

In the 2016 film, Andrew played a Jesuit priest in the 17th century. Garfield reportedly spent a year preparing for the part by studying under Jesuit writer Father James Martin, reading and researching Catholicism and undergoing spiritual exercises. The actor also went celibate for six months for the role. Andrew’s physical transformation for the film was also evident after he undertook fasting fo the role. 

Recently, the talk about method acting suddenly gained attention thanks to Succession star Jeremy Strong’s New Yorker profile. Strong’s co-star Brian Cox had later weighed in on the same and said that he was concerned for Strong and his intense method acting approach. Among other celebrities who also weighed in on the same included the actor’s former co-star from Serenity, Anne Hathaway who defended him and his process of acting. 

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