Hoffman explained—or perhaps bragged about—the lengths to which he would go to capture his character’s worn-out, paranoid emotionality. He had been staying up all night and running in order to look exhausted. In response, Olivier, exasperated by his younger male colleague, deadpanned, “My dear boy, why don’t you try acting?” There’s a famous story about…

Hoffman explained—or perhaps bragged about—the lengths to which he would go to capture his character’s worn-out, paranoid emotionality. He had been staying up all night and running in order to look exhausted. In response, Olivier, exasperated by his younger male colleague, deadpanned, “My dear boy, why don’t you try acting?” It’s a great story that…

This needs to be really smart! It’s a great story that people have used to make fun of “method” acting, but in reality, Butler writes, Hoffman was going through a divorce and using his character as an excuse to burn the candle at both ends. Olivier, sensing that Hoffman was really suffering, “delivered his famous…