Billy Crudup has played complicated men for nearly three decades, but the actor admits he rarely works in the full Method style. So when Noah Baumbach’s Jay Kelly required a breakdown in the middle of a bar – tears rolling as he read the words “truffle parmesan fries” – he had to dig into techniques he had avoided since drama school. Billy Crudup stars alongside George Clooney in Jay Kelly. (AP) While talking to The Independent, the actor said, “It turns out re-traumatising yourself works.” The scene shows Crudup’s character, Timothy, a therapist who never “made it” as an actor, performing for George Clooney, a fading movie star. Billy Crudup on Method acting Crudup says he needed genuine pain to make the moment crack open, even though he has long believed spontaneity beats immersion. His issue with Method acting comes down to how it affects the room. If a director needs to give a quick adjustment, he said, things can get tense. “You can’t just say, ‘Sorry, Daniel (Day-Lewis), can you step outside of that …