Andrew Garfield ‘bothered by the misconception’ surrounding method acting

By Mike Bedigan, PA Los Angeles Correspondent

Andrew Garfield says he is “bothered by the misconception” surrounding method acting, saying that the process is about “living truthfully”.

The Spider-Man actor, 39, said those that claimed the practice was “bullshit” did not know what it was, and said he had “wild, trippy experiences” while preparing for roles.

Speaking to Marc Maron’s WTF podcast, he said: “There’s been a lot of misconceptions about what method acting is.

“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, and being really nice to the crew simultaneously, and 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.

He continued: “I’m kind of bothered by the misconception, I’m kind of bothered by this idea that ‘method acting is f****** bullshit.’

“I don’t think you know what method acting is if you’re calling it bullshit, or you’ve just worked with someone who claims to be a method actor but actually isn’t acting the method at all.

“It’s also very private, I think the process…I don’t want people to see the pipes of my toilet, how the sausage is made.”

Speaking about his preparations for his role Martin Scorsese’s 2016 film Silence, he revealed he had fasted and abstained from sex over a six-month period.

“It was very cool, man,” he said said.

“I had some pretty wild, trippy experiences from starving myself of sex and food for that period of time.”