9 Times Method Actors Actually Forgot Who They Really Were

5. Timothy Spall Asked A Barmaid If She Was "A Purveyor Of Wine" As J.M.W. Turner

Timothy Spall may have been unceremoniously snubbed by both Oscar and BAFTA for his portrayal of J.M.W. Turner, but at least the French know a great performance when they see one. Impressed by his titanic turn in Mike Leigh's biopic Mr. Turner, the jury at the 2014 Cannes film festival awarded Spall the Best Actor prize. And he must have been relieved, knowing that all the effort he'd put in hadn't gone to waste.

Spall actually began preparing to play Turner two whole years before filming began, learning to paint like Turner in that time, as well conducting hours of research on the man and training himself to speak in Turner's particular grunting manner. Spall's tireless studying culminated in a lovely moment when he wandered into a local pub, forgot he was Timothy Spall and asked the barmaid, "Are you a purveyor of wine?" in Turner's throaty Georgian voice.

Spall described the incident as a "scary" one - reportedly, he had to force himself out of the bar just to compose himself and resume normality.