Austin Butler Slept in His 'Caught Stealing' Apartment — Immersion or Obsession?

Following stories of actors who go too far for a role is always irresistible, especially when the actor is Austin Butler. For Darren Aronofsky’s thriller Caught Stealing, Butler didn’t just rehearse lines — he moved into his East Village set, ate Chinese food, danced around, and slept there.

The next morning he woke in his underwear as the crew arrived. Method or madness? Either way, it’s a striking picture.

Living Like Hank

Butler plays Hank, a former baseball player turned bartender who stumbles into mobsters, cops and chaos after a neighbour’s cat. To ground him, he skipped wigs and prosthetics, instead shaping a body that looked athletic but gone-to-seed — workouts balanced with beer.

What scared him was the closeness to himself: "Playing characters gave me another skin. But this left me with nowhere to hide." Isn’t that the kind of fear great performances thrive on?

Aronofsky’s 90s Throwback

Aronofsky first pitched the film to Butler during the 2022 awards circuit. His main direction was simple: "relax a little." The story, set in late-90s New York, leans into pay phones, answering machines and flawed, cape-free heroes.

It’s the kind of thriller Hollywood rarely makes now — and Butler’s raw approach seems to suit it perfectly.

Caught Stealing isn’t about superheroes, but an ordinary man wrecked by guilt and bad choices. Butler admits the danger was judging Hank, wanting him to do better.

Instead, he searched for his "good heart." If the film lands, it may be because Butler embraced that vulnerability — even if it meant sleeping on set. Many would agree, that’s real commitment.