10 Movie Performances That Got Too Real

In the "canon" of films about divorce, it's impossible not to discuss Robert Benton's Best Picture-winning drama Kramer vs. Kramer.

Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep star as a former married couple caught in the midst of a bitter custody battle for their son Billy (Justin Henry), exacerbated by their adversarial legal teams attempting to make the other "side" look unfit to parent.

The film is a fiery acting masterclass, and one suffused with even more emotional authenticity than is immediately apparent.

For starters, both Hoffman and Streep were working through personal tragedies at the time of shooting: Hoffman was in the midst of a divorce from his first wife Anne Byrne, while Streep was mourning the death of her partner, the great actor John Cazale.

But it goes deeper than the mere anguish they bring to the parts: the two actors clashed extensively throughout the shoot, largely due to Hoffman's commitment to method acting and various attempts to antagonise a "better" performance out of Streep.

It doubtless all adds up to make the film feel so incredibly raw, even if that's a lot of emotional baggage for two actors to carry around with them during a film shoot.