Rhys Ifans has urged drama students not to take odd role playing exercises for granted, revealing he was once asked to play a lizard during an acting class - and now he is one on the big screen.
The Notting Hill star portrays Dr Curt Connors, who becomes comic book villain The Lizard in The Amazing Spider-Man, and he admits that if he hadn't been taught how to become a reptile he would not have known where to start.
He tells WENN he had to use his imagination for some of the green screen scenes in the film - but his early acting lessons, which he thought were odd at the time, really helped him jump into character.
He says, "I went to drama school in Australia and I remember in one class the tutor said, 'OK, you're a piece of bacon frying in a pan and portray that physically.' I'm thinking, 'F**k, when am I ever gonna play a piece of bacon?'
"The next day they're like, 'OK, right you're a lizard...' and f**king lo and behold, here we are! "I tell that to any drama student - if they tell you to be a tree, be af**king, tree because you never know!"
