Will Poulter Says Method Acting 'Shouldn't Be Used As an Excuse for Inappropriate Behavior'

Will Poulter is sharing his thoughts on the debate around method acting.

To prepare for his role in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, the actor did weight training and dieting to transform into his character Adam Warlock, who’s described as a genetically engineered superhuman.

In an interview with The Independent UK, Will discussed his transformation and said that “mental and physical health has to be number one, and the aesthetic goals have to be secondary.”

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“For me, that hasn’t been necessary,” he said of method acting. “On Detroit, my African-American colleagues — who my character was responsible for brutalizing — and I were all very much unified in that challenge, and we got to know each other and hung out.”

He continued, “When it comes to an actor’s process, whatever that is, so long as it doesn’t infringe on other people’s and you’re being considerate, then fine. But if your process creates an inhospitable environment, then to me you’ve lost sight of what’s important. Method acting shouldn’t be used as an excuse for inappropriate behavior — and it definitely has.”

His comments come after Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore star Mads Mikkelsen called method acting “bulls–t” in a new interview. See the rest of his comments here.