For her iconic role in The Silence of the Lambs, Jodie Foster actually joined the FBI Academy in Virginia that her character Clarice was attending. Jodie immersed herself in the daily routines of the trainees at Quantico’s FBI Academy and also met with senior FBI officers and serial killer experts to learn more about her role. Her co-star, Scott Glenn, took a different approach and on one occasion listened to a recording of a pair of serial killers torturing and killing a victim, which he later said was probably a step too far.
These dramatic "live like the character" stories make me laugh. Adrien Brody sold off his stuff and moved to Europe with two bags to pretend to understand what it was like to be a concentration camp survivor. The key ingredient for all of them is missing...the reality of the situation and knowing that it's just all just pretend and going home to palatial digs when it's all done or in Brody's case, just going to an ATM and checking in to the most expensive hotel in Paris when you get tired of roughing it . All of this is just drama on and off the set.