The extreme method acting escapades of Nick Nolte
Some of the greatest actors of the 20th century, including the likes of Robert De Niro, Marlon Brando, Daniel Day-Lewis and Nick Nolte, shared one significant thing in common: they were all dedicated method actors. A controversial approach to the acting form, method acting sees any given star fully dedicating their mind and physical performance to fully embodying a character.
As a result of such a full-on style of performance, it’s no wonder that there are so many stories from the world of Hollywood that speak of actors taking things a little too far on set, all in the name of art. Nolte, the three-time Oscar nominee who appeared in such films as The Prince of Tides, Affliction and The Thin Red Line, was particularly well-known for this reason, doing a number of questionable acts throughout his career.
One of his most notorious moments came when he starred in the Paul Mazursky comedy Down and Out in Beverly Hills, with Nolte briefly living on the streets of LA in order to fully capture the mentality of his homeless character.
As Nolte told Screen Comment regarding the shoot: “I was hanging out around this homeless section, it was like Whorehouse Alley…I was sleeping there for two days before I was supposed to get a bed in a mission shelter. It doesn’t take more than seven hours or so outside to turn into a space cadet. Your mind just gets nuts. And then I couldn’t get into the shelter. I didn’t have seniority”.
If that wasn’t extreme enough, Nolte took this one step further during the same production, refusing to bathe for weeks whilst shooting the movie, as well as reportedly eating dog food. As the actor noted, “Bette Midler was disgusted,” making reference to his co-star in the comedy.
Yet, Nolte took his method acting antics one step further in 2002 with the release of The Good Thief, Neil Jordan’s crime drama that told the story of an ageing gambler who attempts to rob a casino in Monte Carlo, Monaco. Starring alongside the likes of Ralph Fiennes, Saïd Taghmaoui and Ouassini Embarek in the remake of the 1955 film by Jean-Pierre Melville, Nolte plays the protagonist, a heroin addict with audacious plans for a heist.
Wanting to get an impression of exactly what his character would be going through, Nolte ended up taking a small amount of heroin to prepare for the role, using it in the eight weeks that led up to production.
Still, he revealed in an interview with Movie Hole that his performance was largely inspired by his own struggles with addiction over the years. “You know, we take on the personality of what the job requires,” the actor states, “So, what I’m talking about is a level beneath that, which is the level of instincts, the level of maybe part of the personality but it may be tapping the source that’s just pure creativity, that isn’t tied to long family experiences that form us and shape us…There’s a method to get yourself prepared for it but when it happens, it’s magical, because then you are living it”.
Take a look at a clip of Nolte from the movie The Good Thief below.
