$sub = $obj->can('foo');
# $sub references the sub that would be called if you
# called $obj->foo(), handling inheritance and everything.
# In fact, Perl has enough magic that if everyone plays
# their cards right, it will work for autoloaded methods
# that haven't even been loaded yet.

# ...a bit later...
#
$obj->$sub(@args); # same as $obj->foo(@args);