10 More Actors Who Prepared For Roles In The Worst Possible Way

2. Dustin Hoffman - Marathon Man

Marathon Man Dustin Hoffman
Paramount Pictures

Going full 'method' is always a dangerous game when preparing for a role or a scene, and Dustin Hoffman went a tad too far in getting himself ready to play Thomas 'Baby' Levy in 1976's Marathon Man.

One of the true great movies of the seventies, this tense thrill ride sees Hoffman as a graduate student who becomes wrapped up in a plot involving a Nazi war criminal and some missing diamonds.

At one particular moment in Marathon Man, Baby had not slept for three days. What does a thoroughbred 'method' actor do to prepare for such a scene? Why, Dustin Hoffman legitimately did not sleep for 72 hours ahead of turning up on set.

Having had no shuteye for three whole days is never a clever thing, and this hindered rather than enhanced Hoffman's performance in this instance. As his prestigious co-star Sir Laurence Olivier supposedly said to Dustin on set, "My boy, why don't you just try acting?"

Marathon Man proved to be a huge success once it made its way to cinema screens in late '76, but it wasn't Dustin Hoffman who the majority of audiences were talking about. Instead, it was Laurence Olivier, whose turn as the villainous Dr Christian Szell earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor the following year.

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