10 Subtle Instances Of Method Acting You Never Even Knew About

9. Ed Harris Actually Painted All Of The Paintings For Pollack

When Ed Harris set out to direct and star in a movie about infamous painter Jackson Pollack, the actor noticed there was one nagging problem: the only thing he'd ever painted was his house, and he knew nothing about the craft at all. So he opted to learn how to do it. In fact, Harris got so good that all the artwork you see in the final movie are Ed Harris originals. Not Pollack replicas or paintings conjured up by the art department.

Originals. That's the main reason why I can class this instance of method as "subtle": few people realised it was all Harris. Granted, he was imitating Pollack's style, of course, but you can't deny that he did a freakin' amazing job. It didn't end there: To get better inside the artist's head, Harris started smoking his brand of cigarettes and even slept in his bed (don't ask how that happened, but it was only for one night).

Ed Harris isn't typically seen as a "method actor" these days as much as he is a masterful character actor, and though he was nominated for an Oscar, I still don't think he got the credit he deserved for this transformation. Give him some credit, won't you?