Actor Liam Neeson claims the 'method' is madness

HOLLYWOOD star Liam Neeson has sensationally lambasted method actors such as Daniel Day Lewis and Robert De Niro for adding unnecessary “bells and bows” to their performances.

STAR COUPLE Liam with his wife Natasha Richardson STAR COUPLE: Liam with his wife Natasha Richardson

The Irish actor, who shot to fame as Oskar Schindler in the Oscar-winning Holocaust epic Schindler’s List, spoke out about actors who are held up as the archetypes for skilled acting.

Targets included Day Lewis, who famously refused medical treatment for pneumonia during the shooting of 2002 film Gangs Of New York because it was not in keeping with the film’s 19th-century period.

Neeson starred with Day Lewis in the film and was reportedly furious that the method actor insisted he be addressed by his character’s name even when they met in the gym at their hotel.

“Actors such as Daniel Day Lewis and Robert De Niro are often held up as ‘this is the way to act’ but I don’t go to bed dreaming and sleeping the character,” Liam revealed at a Q&A after the premiere of his new crime thriller Taken at London’s British Film Institute.

“There’s a lot of b******* in acting. I’m not criticising those guys as actors but sometimes you just have to show up and deliver a speech. You don’t have to pretend to be somebody, I like to think I am enough. I’m not interested in ‘Oh he lost 30 pounds for this role’. I think that should stay private. I don’t wanna hear it.”

Liam added: “I have to be truthful, whether I’m wielding a lightsabre or talking to a bank manager, I don’t like to add bells and bows to my acting.”

And the 56-year-old, who plays an action hero to rival James Bond in his latest movie, said that although he is happily married to actress Natasha Richardson, he puts his lifelong success down to one woman. “Lady luck plays a big part for me,” he said.

“People talk about a career but look, I had to pay my bills. When a film comes to me, the first thing I ask is, ‘Why do they want me?’ and the next thing is, ‘How long will it take?’ If Martin Scorsese rings me up and asks if I want to play king of the dead rabbits or something for only two weeks, I’ll do it.”

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