It is that time of the year when Vijay Sethupathi turns a year older. On Vijay Sethupathi's birthday, it is worth taking a look back at his 2017 interview with CE where he explained his acting philosophy. Back then, Vijay said that he would not alter his body language or appearance for every film role he took on, because he feared that if he did so, his performance might appear "plastic". His approach was to embody the essence of his character while remaining true to himself. "I play every role like Vijay Sethupathi…as a policeman, as a gangster, as a fraudster etc. It’s what you do in a scene that defines you, not how you look," the actor told CE around the release of Vikram Vedha.

This draws attention to his natural and spontaneous style of acting, which involves paying attention to his character's emotions and actions in a particular sequence rather than physical transformations.

While his approach to acting might or might not be a little different now, it is clear that he does not employ the so-called 'method acting' process. That said, his inspirations include not just those who are known for employing method acting, such as Sivaji Ganesan and Kamal Haasan, but also those known for relying on their natural talents, screen presence and instinctive approaches to acting, such as Mohanlal.

Vijay's upcoming projects include the silent film Gandhi Talks, Train with Mysskin, the film with Puri Jagannadh that has now been titled Slumdog - 33 Temple Road, and Arasan with Vetri Maaran. Recently, he revealed that he has a cameo in Rajinikanth-Nelson Dilipkumar's Jailer 2 as well.