To be fair I think that method acting requires you to let go of your conceptual self, so I can see why Carey wouldn’t necessarily think it was him, if he was in character.

To clarify: I don’t think there’s necessarily anything happening which is particularly interesting neurologically, but it is to say that I don’t think the act of spitting on someone is necessarily the asshole move. I think the asshole move is to commit yourself to staying in character. There’s something to be said for whether the commitment itself is worth it as an actor, and whether actions could be excused or forgiven, but I’m not here to make those points.

Where I am here to say is that Carey’s choice to commit to staying in character makes him responsible for the impact and outcomes on other people.

It makes me think of Jared Leto, who was probably just trying a bit too hard, and sent dead rats to his co-stars or something?

I think that’s a case of trying to bootstrap method acting but was certainly not very convincing. I think there’s a case to be made that ‘Leto’ was responsible for that one. I’d call it “cosplaying at being obnoxious”. In this case, I’d say Leto is responsible for those actions.