In an emotional scene in his new film Jay Kelly, Billy Crudup is seen crying on the spot.
Despite not being a fan of method acting, Crudup had to use such techniques to get the tears flowing. Re-ltraumatising himself worked so well that his 10-minute run in the film has lead to Oscar buzz.
"It turns out re-traumatising yourself works," he said. "Feelings, for me, emotions, for me, they’re capricious."
To him, method acting’s impact on other actors and crew is what seems a bit selfish.
He explained that if a director needs to give a note mid-scene and the actor refuses to get out of character, then it puts the director in a tough spot.
"You can’t just say, 'Sorry, Daniel [Day-Lewis], can you step outside of that for one second?' To the other actors and crew, it feels selfish," he remarked.
Giving the example of director William Friedkin, who famously used gunfire to get a reaction of shock while filming The Exorcist.
"Let me tell you, it’s a great f***ing moment," said Crudup. "But would I say that gunfire on a set is the best way to provoke a response? Generally speaking, no, that’s a bad idea... I used to get in disagreements with directors and other actors because I didn’t want to be tricked into anything."
Jay Kelly also stars Adam Sandler and George Clooney. The film is streaming on Netflix.
