Natalie Portman says method acting is a ‘luxury that women can’t afford’

LONDON  -   Oscar-winning actress Natalie Portman has called method acting “a luxury that women can’t afford,” adding that she’s never used the technique. “I’ve gotten very into roles, but I think it’s honestly a luxury that women can’t afford,” she told the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) in an interview published Tuesday. “I don’t think that children or partners would be very understanding of, you know, me making everyone call me ‘Jackie Kennedy’ all the time,” a reference to the 2016 movie “Jackie,” which follows the former first lady, played by Portman, in the wake of her husband’s assassination. During the WSJ interview, Portman discussed her role in Todd Haynes’ new movie “May December,” in which she plays a fictional actress Elizabeth Berry, sent to shadow a woman with a sordid past, in preparation for portraying her in a movie. Portman’s no stranger to intensive preparation, undergoing five hours a day of grueling ballet training six days a week for several months for “Black Swan.” However, she says she’s never used method acting. The technique was founded by Russian theater director Konstantin Stanislavski in the 1900s and further developed by legendary acting coach Lee Strasberg, according to the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute. It encourages actors to use their “physical, mental and emotional self” to create a character while drawing on their own life experiences for the role, the institute adds, and provokes differing responses among actors as to its usefulness.

ePaper - Nawaiwaqt