Robert Pattinson and Andrew Garfield are contemporaries having respectable careers and career-defining roles. Their various performances have been raved about and appreciated by critics and audiences. They both are among the best actors of the current generation and have received several accolades and praise, playing diverse sets of characters and branching out their range as actors. While both are not necessarily associated with method acting, their views and perceptions regarding the same seem to differ. While one has a rather cynical view on method acting, the other thinks that people have misinterpreted the nuances of the process of method acting.
Andrew Garfield and Robert Pattinson Differ on What Method Acting Brings to the Table
Speaking with Far Out magazine, Andrew Garfield clarifies the negative discourse around method acting and how people have perceived the process as a very self-centered and narcissistic one. He explained,
“There’s 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 asshole to everyone on set. It’s actually just about living truthfully under imagined circumstances, being really nice to the crew simultaneously, being a normal human being, and being able to drop it when you need to and staying in it when you want to stay in it”.
Garfield’s views center on the process of method acting as a way for actors to easily get in and out of a certain role based on the required circumstances. It does not mean that the actor has secluded themselves from the production and will be rude to everyone to stay in character.
His contemporary and friend Robert Pattinson seems to have a completely different take on the matter. While chatting with Jennifer Lopez for Variety’s Actors on Actors, he spoke about the cynical nature of the process of method acting saying,
“I always say about people who do method acting, you only ever see people do the method when they’re playing an a–holes…You never see someone being lovely to everyone while they’re really deep in character.”
For Pattinson, method acting can take out the fun of doing a certain role, and prefers to maintain his focus and energy only while the cameras are rolling and return to his normal self once the scene is done. He does not prefer staying in character for the entirety of the production.
Both Views are Logical and Reasonable
The aspect of method acting has been long talked about and discussed by various actors. Some have discarded the process while some embrace it. Christian Bale, Joaquin Phoenix, and Daniel Day-Lewis are prominent actors known for undergoing a rigorous process for getting into the skin of a character. Thus for them, it is just a process to convincingly portray a given role.
It is completely okay for an actor to not follow the method acting process to get into a role. Everyone has their process and as long as one gives a fantastic performance, the process ultimately does not matter.
What Have Andrew Garfield and Robert Pattinson Been in Recently?
Andrew Garfield’s career has been on a roll these past few years. His recent projects in 2021 like The Eyes of Tammy Faye, Tick, Tick… Boom! and Spider-Man No Way Home have all been major successes. His first TV series as a lead Under the Banner of Heaven also received critical acclaim. He will next be seen in the romantic film We Live in Time, opposite Florence Pugh.
Robert Pattinson’s career has also been on a high ever since his time in the Twilight films. He recently did Tenet (2020), The Lighthouse (2019), The Devil All The Time (2020), and The Batman (2022), all distinct films from one another, showing his range as a performer. He will next be seen in acclaimed Korean filmmaker Bong Joon-ho’s sci-fi film Mickey 17 (2024).
Sources: Far Out Magazine, Variety
