3. Dustin Hoffman - Marathon Man
Probably one of the most famous lines uttered by the legendary Laurence Olivier was not one spoken in one of his many great roles, but the supposed quip he aimed at Dustin Hoffman of the back of him training to play Babe in the 1976 film Marathon Man. The story goes that a history student obsessed with running gets placed unintentionally into a nightmare world of international conspiracy involving some stolen diamonds, an exiled Nazi (Olivier) and a really bad trip to the dentist. I know, right? Crazy. The words 'Is it safe?' will forever reverberate in your mind when you visit the dentist after this film. Hoffman, a method actor by trade, got so prepared for the character he played that he lost 15 pounds after running up to four miles a day to get in shape for the demanding role. Legendary Producer Robert Evans claimed that Hoffman would never come into a scene faking the heavy breathing required, and that he would simply run half a mile right before director John Schlesinger yelled 'action' to make the scene more believable. This is something that supposedly led to the famous line Olivier fired at him; 'Why not try acting? It is much easier.' A moment in cinematic history that Hoffman vigorously denies. But why would you admit it? One of the greatest character actors of all time destroyed the supposed 'method' acting in favour for his preferred way of just pretending to be someone else with one single, now infamous, line. Either way, both performances are solidified as two of the best to come out the 1970's.