Mads Mikkelsen has hit out at method acting, calling the process “pretentious”.

The actor, currently starring in Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets Of Dumbledore, told GQ about his process and criticised actors who don’t drop character.

• READ MORE: ‘Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore’ review: sparks of magic but the spell doesn’t hold

“Preparation, you can take into insanity,” Mikkelsen said. “What if it’s a shit film – what do you think you achieved? Am I impressed that you didn’t drop character? You should have dropped it from the beginning! How do you prepare for a serial killer? You gonna spend two years checking it out?”

Discussing renowned method actor Daniel Day-Lewis and imagining what it would be like to work together, Mikkelsen said: “I would have the time of my life, just breaking down the character constantly.

“‘I’m having a cigarette? This is from 2020, it’s not from 1870 – can you live with it?’ It’s just pretentious.”

The actor went on to say the media plays a role in the way method acting is praised, explaining: “The media goes, ‘Oh my god, he took it so seriously, therefore he must be fantastic; let’s give him an award.’ Then that’s the talk, and everybody knows about it, and it becomes a thing.”

Meanwhile, Mikkelsen’s Fantastic Beasts co-star Ezra Miller was recently arrested and charged with disorderly conduct and harassment.

According to a public statement obtained by The Guardian, Hawaii police allege Miller had become “agitated” and began “yelling obscenities” at other people in a bar singing karaoke last month.

The actor reportedly then “grabbed the microphone from a 23-year-old woman singing karaoke and later lunged at a 32-year-old man playing darts. The bar owner asked Miller to calm down several times to no avail”.