#12: Preparing for Vincent Vega
In a 1994 interview with James Lipton on Inside the Actors Studio, John talked about the challenges of playing Vincent Vega in Pulp Fiction. The hardest part, he said, was figuring out how to capture the essence of a heroin addict without having any personal experience with drugs.
Quentin Tarantino connected John with a recovering heroin addict, who described the sensation in vivid detail. The advice: get drunk on tequila and lie in a hot pool to mimic just a hint of the feeling. It was a strange but effective way to understand the character’s world.