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Did cannabis help Kevin Spacey win the Oscar for American Beauty?

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Director Sam Mendes has revealed how he accidentally discovered a way to make Kevin Spacey “lose control” in his performance.

The actor won a host of awards including the Oscar for his performance in ‘American Beauty’ but there was one particular scene where his character, Lester Burnham, gets high outside a real estate convention and it turned out to be a pivotal moment in establishing his character. Mendes was speaking at the Hay festival when he mentioned that during the shooting of this scene, Spacey had started to get the giggles which he said was “absolutely magic and…was absolutely the movie.”

Scene with Kevin Spacey getting high

The director intervened to bring his “method directing” to the forefront and it appears to have helped Spacey add another dimension to his art.

The film was critically praised but Mendes acknowledged that Spacey had an approach to acting that was “very manicured” and “well planned,” but he needed the character to also have a way about him that showed he wasn’t an organised thinker.

American Beauty Trailer

Over the span of his career, Kevin Spacey has been nominated 73 times including a second Oscar win for Best Actor in a Supporting Role in “The Usual Suspects.” Spacey was also recently awarded a Golden Globe for his performance in Netflix series “House of Cards.”

This year the actor launched his first online acting class where he teaches a programme to students online and hosts Q and A sessions with them.

Spacey will play the role of President Nixon opposite Michael Shannon in 'Elvis & Nixon', which comes out on the 24th June in the UK.

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