Jennifer Lawrence opens up on 'method acting' and lesson she learned from Christian Bale's acting technique

'I had always been very on/off on/off until I did 'American Hustle' and worked with Christian Bale,' said Jennifer Lawrence
UPDATED JUN 23, 2023
Jennifer Lawrence on the acting advice she picked up from Christian Bale (Pascal Le Segretain, Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images)
Jennifer Lawrence on the acting advice she picked up from Christian Bale (Pascal Le Segretain, Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images)

'No Hard Feelings' star Jennifer Lawrence recently opened up about a particular acting technique that gives her the creeps. During an interview for Thursday's Hot Ones shows, the 32-year-old actress, who was known as the highest-paid actress in 2015 and 2016 was asked about the difficulties she might face when working with someone who has a different approach to acting training.

"I would be nervous to work with someone who’s Method [acting]," Lawrence stated. "Because I would have no idea how to talk to them, ’cause like, do I have to be in character? That would just make me nervous." Method acting has remained a hotly debated subject within the industry, with both proponents and critics of the art. Actors like Andrew Garfield, Jeremy Strong, and Brian Cox have all openly voiced their disagreement with the immersive acting technique, and other stars have also been vociferous about their views.

Lawrence shares Christian Bale’s acting technique

Christian Bale speaks onstage at the Amsterdam Los Angeles Special Screening at El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood, California on September 27, 2022.
Christian Bale (Photo by Jesse Grant/Getty Images for 20th Century Studios)

Regarding her personal methods for adopting a character, Lawrence discussed how they have evolved over the course of her career and gave credit to one Oscar-winning actor for sparking a fresh thought. "I had always been very on/off on/off until I did' American Hustle' and worked with Christian Bale, who I noticed when the camera started rolling and the crew started preparing and it would be about 10 seconds to action, he [Bale] would start getting ready," the actress stated. "I saw that and was like, 'That seems like a really good idea.' So then I started to do that."

'I learned how to pick locks on Red Sparrow'

Lawrence has established herself as a prominent actress in Hollywood over the past ten years, with parts in 'American Hustle', 'Winter's Bone', the 'X-Men' series, 'Don't Look Up', 'Mother!', and 'Silver Linings Playbook', which won her an Oscar for best leading actress. Later on in the interview, Lawrence was questioned about the expertise she had acquired for her responsibilities and how those skills had been applicable to her daily life. "I learned how to pick locks on Red Sparrow. I haven’t used it, but to know that I could is cool,"  she jokingly said before revealing that she had also learned how to handle a falcon for Serena.

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