David Harbour once thought about killing a cat to 'know what it feels like to murder' for a role: 'I didn't actually do it, obviously'
- David Harbour said he once thought about killing a cat as part of a method-acting approach.
- Harbour said when he was "younger" he wanted to "know what it feels like to murder" for a role.
David Harbour said that when he was younger, he considered dipping further into the method-acting approach by killing a cat so that he could "know what it feels like to murder" for a role.
The actor, who stars in Netflix's "Stranger Things," told GQ his thoughts on method acting, an immersive approach most recently publicized by actors including Jeremy Strong, Jared Leto, and Benedict Cumberbatch. Harbour said that he was "very much trained in classical American method acting," and in his younger years, weighed taking a drastic step for one of his roles.
"When I was younger — it's so embarrassing — but I remember playing that famous Scottish King and being like, 'I'm gonna kill a cat' or something," Harbour told GQ. "'I'm gonna go murder something to know what it feels like to murder.' I didn't actually do it, obviously. Not only is that stuff silly, it's dangerous, and it actually doesn't produce good work."
The Method has sustained criticism in recent years, particularly directed towards method actors who are seen as going too far for their character in a way that may affect others working on a set. In a December 2021 profile of Strong, a noted method actor, in the New Yorker, Strong's "Succession" costar Brian Cox called the approach a "particularly American disease." Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen went a step further, calling the method "just pretentious" in an interview with GQ.
Other method actors, like Daniel Day-Lewis, are famous for immersing themselves in their roles, without drawing significant criticism from their costars.
"He's an extraordinary actor who I'm captivated and fascinated by," Harbour said of Day-Lewis. "[But] when he explains his process it sounds like nonsense to me."