Late star who played The Human Centipede surgeon followed a creepy acting rule while filming

A lot of actors have their own thing. Maybe they won’t come to set unless there’s a constant flow of tea available for them or insist on having their own glam team.

And many famous actors also prefer to go ‘method’ when working on a film.

Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Christian Bale and Natalie Portman are all known to practice method acting for their roles.

But sometimes it could be a little ‘scary’ for those around them – particularly if they’re working on a horror film.

Just like the actor who played the creepy surgeon in 2009’s The Human Centipede.

In case you’re not aware of the relatively gross film, the synopsis reads: “A mad scientist kidnaps and mutilates a trio of tourists in order to reassemble them into a human centipede, created by stitching their mouths to each other’s rectums.”

Yeah, gross.

And German actor Dieter Laser took on the role of the surgeon, although he did have some concerns about taking on the role.

Six Entertainment

He told On Demand Entertainment he considered it ‘could become embarrassing, the intellectuals in Germany what will they think? The critics, my friends from the theatre’.

Laser added: “But if now, at the same time, an independent company would come and say, ‘we have a script, silence of the lambs, would you like to play the lead?’

“What would you think?”

The late star received great recognition for his role as Dr Josef Heiter in The Human Centipede, winning Best Actor at the Austin Fantastic Fest and being nominated for Best Villain at the LA Scream Awards.

Which is fair enough as a lot of work went in to playing the horrifying surgeon, as crew members and actors described Laser as being a method actor.

He revealed in the interview that he didn’t speak to the rest of the cast for pretty much the entire filming process.

Six Entertainment

The star said: “We never exchanged private talks or were kind to each other. I will stick in my wardrobe and only come downstairs to do my shot, to do that sequence and go away.”

In a conversation with HeyUGuys, Laser also said of his dynamic with the actors who played the three victims: “Based on that basic plan of how to portray Dr. Heiter, I kept away from them. During the whole shoot, very scarcely did we exchange private talk.

“It was my choice from the beginning. I said I want to be picked up from the hotel in the morning with a separate car, I want to come to the set alone. I have to be have as far away as possible, a single wardrobe and I have to have my lunch brought up into the wardrobe. I don’t want to talk to people, I don’t want to see people, I just will be called, go downstairs from my wardrobe and shoot so that I’m always on my track.”

Laser did say the cast ‘accepted that, admired it even’.