In order to prepare for his role as a Jesuit priest from the 17th century in the 2016 movie "Silence," method actor Andrew Garfield confessed he fasted from food and sex.
In the podcast "WTF with Marc Maron," Garfield claimed, "I did a number of spiritual practices every day, I made up new rituals, I was celibate for six months, and I was fasting a lot."
Man, it was really cool, he said. "At that time, when I was depriving myself of sex and food, I had some pretty wild, hallucinogenic experiences."
Father James Martin, a Jesuit author, served as Garfield's "friend and spiritual director" as he studied for a year. In order to prepare for his performance in the Martin Scorsese-directed historical drama, Martin, 61, assisted Garfield, 39, with his studies into Catholicism and guided the Oscar contender through a number of spiritual exercises.
Garfield claimed that he and Martin used the same procedures that Konstantin Stanislavski had used over a century earlier to develop method acting. The "Amazing Spider-Man" actor praised the acting approach but said that it could occasionally go too far.
He claimed on the show that "there [have] been] a lot of misconceptions about what method acting is." "People are still acting that way, and it's not just to be a jerk to everyone on set," the speaker said.
Nevertheless, Garfield previously said he is taking a break from Hollywood to be "ordinary for a bit," suggesting the demanding method may have taken its toll on him. He said to Variety in April, "I'm going to rest for a short while.
The "Tick, Tick... Boom!" star was recently photographed looking ripped while on vacation in Bali, so it appears that the much-needed rest is doing him good.
Pictures of a buff, shirtless Garfield quickly became a sensation on social media and enraged his followers.