Niko Tavernise/Columbia Pictures Austin Butler stars as former baseball star Hank Thompson in the upcoming filmCaught Sleeping The movie star, known for method acting, revealed he once slept in his underwear on set while getting into character Caught Stealingopens in theaters on Friday, Aug. 29 Austin Butlergoes method, again. For his upcoming filmCaught Stealing, the 34-year-old actor spoke toVarietyabout bringing his famed approach to his role as Hank Thompson, an ex-baseball player who finds himself in a dangerous treasure hunt across New York City. "I played music, I danced around, and I ate Chinese food in there," Butler told the outlet of the set, which served as his character's East Village apartment. "It made me feel like I really lived there." He revealed, "I slept there all night, and I woke up to the crew coming in while I was in my underwear." The Oscar winner explained how his strategy removed any distractions and helped his character feel more at home. "There are many things that conspire against you when you're making a movie," he said. "You've got the lights and the camera and the set doesn't have a ceiling, because they've got to light it from above. It's tempting to look around and break the illusion." "So the more I can do to trick myself, the more important it is." Karwai Tang/WireImage Still, Butler confessed that playing a character like Hank "scared" him due to their similarities. "Playing a character that feels more like myself left me with nowhere to hide and made me feel vulnerable," Butler shared. Though he found a lot of himself in Hank, he utilized method acting to create a convincing performance as an alcoholic bartender whose plans of being a professional athlete were interrupted by an injury. "He needed to have the physicality of somebody who was an elite athlete, but who was no longer in peak physical shape," theElvisstar said. "I wanted to have a certain thickness. So I worked out, but I also drank a lot of beer." Butler previously opened up about his commitment to the role, tellingMen's Healthin an article published earlier this month thathe had gained 35 lbs, adding that he has "a whole section of Celine pants that I just can't even wear anymore." Also starringZoë Kravitz,Regina King,Liev SchreiberandBad Bunny.Caught Stealingis an adaptation of a popular graphic novel of the same name and directed byDarren Aronofsky. Aronofsky has also directedThe Whale,Mother!andBlack Swan. Aronofsky sought out Butler for the role of Hank and advised him to avoid going too far into method acting. "Austin goes really deep," Aronofsky toldVariety. "In fact, I often asked him to work a little less hard and to relax a little bit because I wanted a certain looseness." Caught Stealingwill open in theaters on Aug. 29. Read the original article onPeople
