10 Subtle Instances Of Method Acting You Never Even Knew About

1. Billy Bob Thornton Filled His Shoes With Crushed Glass To Ensure His Character's Trademark Walk - Sling Blade

Sling Blade is a movie about a guy named Karl Childers who, having been released from the psychiatric hospital where he has lived since killing his mother at just aged 12, befriends a young boy. I know what you're thinking: that's a recipe for disaster, but it's actually a genuinely riveting and rather poetic movie, courtesy of Billy Bob Thornton, who wrote the screenplay, directs and stars.

Well done, Billy Bob Thornton. That's good work. Thornton, who plays central character Childers, opted to give his partially handicapped character a kind of shuffle when he walked, which - insanely - he decided to achieve by putting crushed glass in the base of his shoes. So, yes, every time you see Billy Bob taking a step in this movie, he's stepping on pieces of broken glass concealed in his footwear.

And to ensure that things were kept consistent, he did it in every scene, too. Once again, as with all the entries on this list, it's a subtle and seemingly minor touch, but one that paid off in droves. It's a great and actually clever addition that genuinely helps us to better understand Childers. It also proves that we don't always know how actors are tapping into feelings and emotions on the big screen, and that everyone has their own methods and ideas as to how best immerse themselves into characters who are almost always incredibly complex.

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