dailyloe.com – Vincent D’Onofrio had a unique experience making the 1997 film Men in Black. The actor reflected on his iconic roles in a video for GQ on April 10. This included his part as the alien Edgar the Bug. The hostile alien crash-lands on Earth and wears a farmer’s skin as a disguise.
D’Onofrio recalled receiving a call from a producer about the script. She said director Barry Sonnenfeld was interested in him for the part. The producer relayed a specific condition from Sonnenfeld. D’Onofrio had to promise never to speak to the director about acting.
He could not discuss the character or anything about his performance. D’Onofrio stated this is the absolute truth and they have talked about it since. The agreement was that he would just say yes and then just do it. D’Onofrio had never had someone ask that before.
He had seen Sonnenfeld’s recent film Get Shorty and said yes. He then started reading the script about an alien taking a man’s body. The alien wears the skin for the whole film and he could not talk to the director. D’Onofrio said he had no idea how to approach it.
The lines were kind of wonky and weird and sort of like punchlines. He stated he had to figure it out entirely on his own. Originally, he watched documentaries about insects but gave that up. He became frustrated with the process.
D’Onofrio wandered into an orthopedic store where he had an idea. He decided to wear knee braces for the character. He explained his idea to a store employee who got very excited. The employee happened to have been painting and had paint sticks available.
Using braces, duct tape, and paint sticks, they made him custom braces. On his first day on set, director Barry Sonnenfeld was not impressed. Sonnenfeld criticized D’Onofrio’s performance as horrible. However, he told D’Onofrio to keep going with his work.
D’Onofrio’s performance in the blockbuster film has since been critically acclaimed. The actor is now 66 years old. He shared this story as part of a reflection on his career. The anecdote highlights an unusual directorial method.[]
Source: People.com
