Scott Speedman told Insider he won't break "the politeness barrier" on set to trymethod acting .- The "
Grey's Anatomy " star said he'd love to watchDaniel Day-Lewis practice the method.
"Grey's Anatomy" star Scott Speedman has had some unique roles over the past few years before joining the hit ABC medical drama as a series regular to reprise his role as transplant surgeon Dr. Nick Marsh, but he's definitely not a method actor.
He told Insider in February that he doesn't practice method acting, no matter if he's playing a dreamy doctor, a concerned stepfather slowly getting torn apart by grief like Matthew on "You," or a porn star like his character Vance Leroy in Lena Dunham's 2022 film "Sharp Stick."
In Speedman's view, actors naturally "try to play around the edges" of this technique, which involves using "a systematic approach to training the living material that is the actor's 'instrument,'" according to The Lee Strasberg Theater & Film Institute.
In other words, actors go to extreme measures to actually become their characters, often staying in character even when the cameras aren't rolling.
Method acting has been in the news lately because of stories about actors like Jeremy Strong , Benedict Cumberbatch, and Lady Gaga employing the technique
The method, developed by Strasberg, has made headlines lately, largely because of a December profile in The New Yorker that reported "Succession" star Jeremy Strong, who is a method actor, wanted to experience real tear gas for a role and annoyed his "Succession" costars by playing a kazoo while they were trying to film scenes.
Similarly, Jesse Plemons told Variety in January that his "Power of the Dog" costar Benedict Cumberbatch's method acting pissed him off when Cumberbatch called Plemons "big boy" on set (Cumberbatch was playing the cruel rancher brother of Plemons' character in the film). And in November, Lady Gaga spoke about using an Italian accent for nine months for her "House of Gucci" role as Patrizia Reggiani, the former Italian socialite convicted of hiring a hitman to kill her ex-husband, Maurizio Gucci.
Speedman told Insider he would never try method acting "to the Jeremy Strong, Lady Gaga level that we're reading about right now," though he'd like to observe a method-acting costar using the technique firsthand.
"I think it's pretty all-consuming," the former "Felicity" star said of method acting. "It can be really fulfilling for the individual. I think it's probably challenging for everybody else."
"But I mean, I would love to be around it to see what it would be like. Especially if it was coming from Daniel Day-Lewis," Speedman added, referencing the renowned method actor who once refused to leave his character's wheelchair after filming was over when he was playing Christy Brown in "My Left Foot."
"The breaking of the politeness barrier is really, really difficult to do," Speedman said, explaining why he doesn't think he'll ever commit to the method.
"Grey's Anatomy" airs on Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET on ABC.