Adria Arjona Questions Hollywood’s Excuse for Bad Behavior: ‘Can We Cancel Method Acting?’

Adria Arjona has worked with plenty of talented actors, but one unnamed co-star left her stunned by their behavior on set.

While promoting her new A24 action thriller Onslaught, Arjona spoke about difficult collaborators during an appearance on John Feitelberg’s Scene Stealers. She recalled working with an actor whose enormous ego made her wonder how they continued to get away with such behavior.

“I’ve had it with an actor that I was like, ‘Good God,’” Arjona said. “But it was more just like an ego trip. I’m like, ‘How are you getting away with this?’”

Arjona said the experience was so surprising that she was both shocked and fascinated.

“I was in shock by the behavior, but also in awe,” she explained. “I was like, ‘You are fucking fascinating. What makes you think that this is OK?’”

The Hit Man, Andor and Blink Twice star did not reveal the actor’s name or even say whether the person was a man or a woman. She also made it clear that the actor behaved very differently in public.

Arjona said she would watch interviews with the performer and see someone who appeared friendly and likable.

“I would watch interviews of this actor—not saying female or male, just actor in general—and I would be like, ‘Oh my God, they’re so nice. They’re so nice. What a good actor,’” she said.

That contrast between a polished public image and difficult behavior behind the scenes clearly stayed with her.

The discussion eventually turned to method acting, a style in which performers deeply immerse themselves in their characters. Arjona questioned whether the term has sometimes become an excuse for actors to treat their colleagues badly.

“Can we cancel method acting? Because there are a lot of assholes in there,” she said. “And then they just say, ‘I’m a method actor,’ and shit. I don’t buy it. You don’t get to behave like this.”

Arjona also pointed to what she sees as a gender double standard in Hollywood. She argued that male actors can sometimes get away with behavior that could seriously damage a woman’s career.

“You will never see a woman say she’s a method actor,” she said. “Just men who are assholes, because we wouldn’t get away with it. We would never work again.”

Arjona did not say that her unnamed co-star actually used method acting as an excuse, and she offered no clues that would officially identify the person. Any attempt to name the actor would therefore be speculation.

Her broader criticism, however, was clear: being talented or committed to a role should not give anyone a free pass to make life miserable for the people around them.

Arjona is now starring in Onslaught, the latest action thriller from director Adam Wingard and writer Simon Barrett. In the film, she plays a former Army sniper who fights to protect her daughter from genetically engineered super-soldiers.