I don’t admire actors who have to “become the person” to become the character. Bogart didn’t do that. Jimmy Stewart didn’t do that. Spencer Tracy didn’t do that. Orson Wells didn’t do that.
It is called “acting”. You should be able to act without having to duplicate the entire life experience of the character. Great actors don’t need to do that.
Yeah he did. When he found out he had throat cancer he switched from unfiltered cigarettes to filtered cigarettes!