Why Method Acting is Kinda Dumb

Scene from Suicide Squad

This isn't the first time in Suicide Squad's marketing that we've heard something, to put it in kind words, off about Jared Leto's portrayal of The Joker. Playing an iconic character as such isn't easy, especially when you have to live up to Caesar Romero, Jack Nicholson, Mark Hamill, and Heath Ledger. It is part of the reason that Leto's very appearance has left many baffled, finding it too flamboyant and improper for a character rich in anarchy. However, there's other off things that are worthy of mention. Things that probably have little to do with the actual movie: his method acting. Reports continue to arise in which Leto admits to doing some vile things to "get into character." It is at this point that I ask that we as a society seriously discuss the merits of method acting and why sometimes it's pretty stupid.

In a recent interview, Leto added a laundry list of activities to press that has already claimed that he's made everyone in the Suicide Squad set uncomfortable. This includes having a pet rat, gifting anal beads, and sending everyone individually used condoms. It is true that The Joker is by requirement an unpredictable character. However, there's still something that feels like it's going too far for the sake of pulling off a convincing character. By the end of this, it is likely that Leto's story will be its own folklore in Hollywood history, including his belief that he will be the best Joker ever. Considering that Ledger's performance earned an Oscar for The Dark Knight, he would at least have to cross that barrier to even justify his statement. Frankly, I don't think he will despite recently winning his own Oscar for Dallas Buyers Club.

But what is the point of all of this? To give some set-up, let's first discuss the very idea of method acting. This is a concept created so that actors are in tune with their characters by pretty much living their character's lives 24/7. Arguably the most successful method actor is Robert De Niro between the 70's and early 90's. He became a certified taxi driver for Taxi Driver. He became a legitimate boxer for Raging Bull, then proceeded to gain health-defying weight for the same role. He even messed up his teeth for the Cape Fear remake. While a lesser actor would've merely applied makeup, there's something so commendable about De Niro's dedication that you almost forgive him for taking it easy over the past 20 years. Method acting isn't easy, and the disciples of the trade are often seen as crazy for doing sometimes trivial things merely to be convincing.

Of course, method acting isn't strictly breaking apart your body for art. Sometimes it's more embodying the character, as best seen with the career of Daniel Day-Lewis. In My Left Foot, he was bound to a wheelchair even when the camera wasn't rolling so that he could be convincing. This got him an Oscar, but also created abdominal complications. Most everything he's done since doesn't seem nearly as impressive, likely because it doesn't risk his health. For instance, he actually lived on the set of Gangs of New York. With Lincoln, he remained in character for the entire shoot to the point that many people would second-guess themselves when talking to him when the cameras weren't shooting. While De Niro likely has the more lively method acting, Day-Lewis will likely be regaled as the ultimate method actor, if just for the brevity of his filmography that allows him to better get into character.

This isn't to say that Leto isn't a method actor. The more general fact is that he's not quite as revered as either of these figures. On the spectrum, he has been known more for physically evolving into character than actually living on sets or achieving Day-Lewis-like heights. He once gained a lot of weight for Chapter 27, where he played John Lennon assassin Mark David Chapman. He would also drop to anorexic levels for Dallas Buyers Club to play an AIDS victim. Weight is the most common of method acting tropes, and is probably the only legitimate thing that a camera cannot hide in a character. While I don't encourage actors to drop weight against their will simply to entertain, there is something commendable about dedication - as long as the acting chops back it up.

So why then is method acting pretty dumb? The answer is pretty simple. Even the best of films are by nature a disposable medium. A performance can fade into obscurity. By this logic, method acting mostly goes unnoticed and the average film fan wouldn't be able to tell you what the actor did to become convincing. There's too many schools of acting to have method acting shine as the primary resource. In fact, there's a certain sense of bashing in teeth or gaining weight that isn't acting. That's merely a costume. Nobody would consider a woman wearing a fancy hat to be great acting, so why should being noticeably skinnier have any different treatment? You are supposed to convince us you're that character, not make us impressed by your diet regiment.

It is true that there are actors who are still charismatic despite these tropes. Beyond De Niro and Day-Lewis, you have actors like Christian Bale; of whom was notorious for almost a decade in which he would jump from The Machinist to Batman Begins to The Fighter to American Hustle and change weight class for each. Thankfully, he's able to back each of those up with compelling performances that reflect his gifts as a dramatic actor going back over 30 years. Even in cases like Full Metal Jacket where Vincent D'Onofrio gained a lot of weight to play the incompetent, menacing Gomer Pyle, you get a sense of character that is complimented by that weight handicap. The issue is that you get cases like Southpaw, where Jake Gyllenhaal gained so much muscle mass and put in so much effort for a clearly Oscar-bait title, only to have reviews capsize its success and make it almost disappear completely (not to mention he was also doing a similar switcheroo by playing an anorexic character previously in Nightcrawler).

In most of the aforementioned cases, you buy into the characters and their psychology because of their transformation and physicality. However, it still raises the question as to why it is more respectable than an average actor who just gets up and emotes. Going back to the hat analogy, method acting is more about putting on a costume than actual acting. Throughout history, the medium has been full of performances that were done with classically trained actors merely doing work. There are types who practiced lines to give a performance and have received just as much of a standing ovation as the method actors. Does this make their role any less valuable? Not even close. In fact, the very essence of acting is to be dishonest to the viewer. You have to convince us that you're crazy, jealous, happy, sad, hungry, tired, and so many other emotions. This doesn't mean that you have to actually be that. You just have to convey it well enough. A hat cannot be happy, only the actor underneath. 

Of course, The Joker mythology is rich with method acting. Ledger famously died after forming a medication addiction following his rigorous performance. Of course, that performance was steeped in so much insanity and mystery that it has remained one of the most iconic superhero performances of the past 50 years. You remember his performance not because you know that he died months before the film's release, but because he conveyed his character with a certain assurance that made him menacing. It isn't like Leto, who has to convince us he's The Joker by giving everyone used condoms. Ledger merely committed to the role possibly a little too much. It was a great performance, and maybe the biggest aggrandizement about method acting: it can kill you. Imagine if Ledger had lived. Maybe we'd be seeing far richer performances almost a decade after The Dark Knight.

Of course, most art forms and their creators are inevitably idiotic to some degree. I am just as hypocritical when it comes to method acting appreciation, as I admire De Niro's dedication, but find Leto's to be a little overbearing. Of course, Leto's reads more as antagonistic and inessential with the pranks being arguably more discomforting than to help build character. It may just be the press spinning it the wrong way and it's not as bad as we think. Then again, when has gifting used condoms been spun as a good thing? Maybe the issue isn't that method acting is kind of dumb, but that Leto is doing it completely wrong for the sake of a late-summer blockbuster that'll probably have more attention on Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn than The Joker anyways.