Method acting is an art form where actors imagine themselves in the lives of their respective characters and dive into their situations to produce genuine behavior than simply acting. They put themselves in their characters’ psychology while keeping their true selves subdued.
For some actors, just looking like the character isn’t always enough. Here are several who took method acting to dangerous lengths:
Jared Leto Sent Bizarre Things To Cast Members For Suicide Squad
Jared Leto went a little overboard to step in the shoes of Mr. J as he took inspiration from his Joker predecessor Heath Ledger to adapt method acting for the role. To get into the psychotic character, Leto invaded the privacy of the cast members of the film and delivered things like videotaped messages, live rats, dead pigs, porn magazines, and sex toys to them. He was said to have been watching footage of actual violent crimes being committed during his shoot breaks on the sets.
Adrien Brody Gave Up His Possessions And Girlfriend For The Pianist
Adrien Brody pushed boundaries for his most acclaimed role in The Pianist. To get into the depth of his role, he had to inhabit the life of a Holocaust survivor and real-life concert pianist. Brody actually learned to play the piano and spent four hours a day practicing. He even sold off his possessions saying it was essential for him to get in the character and do that. “I gave up my apartment, I sold my car, I disconnected the phones, and I left,” he told BBC. His then-girlfriend got frustrated and broke up with him. All proved worth the efforts when he won an Oscar for that role later that year.
Sylvester Stallone Took A Real Punch And Was Hospitalized While Filming Rocky IV
Apart from putting on pounds of muscle and doing hardcore training for his role in Rocky IV, Sylvester Stallone also took real punches from his co-star Dolph Lundgren to make the filming seem more real. “Later that night my blood pressure goes up to 260, I go to the hospital, they put me in an emergency jet, and fly me back to America. Next thing I know I’m in intensive care for five days with nuns walking around. He hit my heart so hard that it banged against my ribs and started to swell, and that usually happens in car accidents. So I was hit by a truck!” said Stallone.
Nicolas Cage Had Teeth Pulled Without Anesthesia And Developed Infections For Birdy
In one of his best early performances, Nicolas Cage at the age of just 19 got a few teeth extracted without anesthesia in order to physically feel the pain his Vietnam vet character might have endured. He is said to have spent weeks with his face bandaged day and night, so he could experience the discomfort his character was going through. It came out as a surprise to the filmmakers of Birdy to see such a dedicated talent at that very young age.
Daniel Day-Lewis Lived Without Running Water Or Electricity For The Crucible
Daniel Day-Lewis who is a 3-time Oscar winner is known to the industry for his exceptional performances. In his 1996 film The Crucible, he committed to living on the sets of his movie which was designed as a 17th-century colonial village. He resided for months there with no electricity supply or running water and built his character’s home with his bare hands’ tools from that era. Daniel even gave up his beloved motorcycle in favor of a horse which he had in the film.
Jamie Foxx Glued His Eyes Shut Every Day For Ray
Due to the numerous times, he has played the funny guy in films, Jammie Foxx is as known as a comic actor in the industry. However, for one the most significant role of his career where he enacted the soul legend and musical innovator Ray Charles in the 2004 biopic Ray, Foxx pushed the boundaries of method acting when he glued shut his eyes every day to emulate Ray’s blindness. “Imagine having your eyes glued shut for 14 hours a day,” Foxx told The New York Times. The hard work of portraying Ray Charles turned out fruitful for Foxx as he won an Academy Award for that role.
Tom Hanks Didn’t Bathe And Got A Staph Infection For Cast Away
Tom Hanks is no stranger to method acting. He however delivered one of the best performances of his career in the film Cast Away where he played the role of Chuck Noland, a FedEx employee from Memphis who, after a plane crash, finds himself stranded on an island for years. In order to really get into character, Hanks went without a shower for weeks and eventually developed a staph infection. Apparently, the production of the film shut down for a year after filming the first part in order for Hanks to lose the weight, grow a long beard, and develop a deep island-style tan.
Leonardo DiCaprio Slept In An Animal Carcass For The Revenant
Leonardo DiCaprio had an Oscar long due. He finally achieved the milestone when he delivered a powerful performance in the film The Revenant. Seeing the acting and the efforts Leo put in for the film, the award was totally justified. Leo went through hell to get in the soul of his movie character for which he fed himself on raw bison liver, slept in a raw animal carcass, and threw himself in the freezing water. “Whether it’s going in and out of frozen rivers, or sleeping in animal carcasses, or what I ate on set. [I was] enduring freezing cold and possible hypothermia constantly” said Leo
Christian Bale Nearly Starved Himself To Lose 60 Lbs. For The Machinist
Christian Bale made headlines when his look for the 2004 film The Machinist was revealed. The feats of method acting which Bale achieved, to date, seems unbelievable. For weeks before the filming commenced, Bale sustained on just an apple and a can of tuna fish a day to attain the skeletal state. He said he used a photo of an emaciated Hank Williams taken three months before the musician’s death as his inspiration. Surprisingly, when the filming wrapped up, it took him only 6 months to gain back a whopping 109 pounds and bulk up for his role of Batman.
Shia LaBeouf Quit Grooming His Body For Months To Prepare For Fury
Shia LaBeouf is another boundary-pushing actor in Hollywood. For his role in 2014’s Fury, LeBeouf was as invested as could be. He told Dazed: “David (Ayer, director) told us right from the gate: ‘I need you to give me everything.’ So the day after I got the job, I joined the U.S. National Guard. I was baptized—accepted Christ in my heart—tattooed my surrender and became a chaplain’s assistant to Captain Yates for the 41st Infantry. I spent a month living on a forward operating base. Then I linked up with my cast and went to Fort Irwin. I pulled my tooth out, knifed my face up, and spent days watching horses die. I didn’t bathe for four months.”
Robert De Niro Drove A Cab Around New York For Taxi Driver
Actors are often adored when they ‘go method’ for a movie role, but Robert De Niro reportedly went a bit overboard while playing a cab driver in the 1976 film Taxi Driver. He actually got himself a cab driver’s license while preparing for his role in the Martin Scorsese classic. The Oscar winner is said to have worked 12-hour shifts, and would reportedly pick up passengers around New York City during breaks from shooting.
Ashton Kutcher Used A Fruit-Only Diet And Was Hospitalized For Jobs
Ashton Kutcher felt a sense of responsibility on his head after he was chosen as the actor to play Steve Jobs in his biopic. To prepare himself for the role, Kutcher reportedly spent three months watching hundreds of hours of archival footage to get Jobs’ accent, posture, and facial expressions. He said to have even tried adopting a fruit-only diet, similar to the one Jobs followed as part of an alternative medicine regimen to treat his cancer. This led to some health problems for Kutcher, who ended up being sent to the hospital for recovery.
Let us know in the comment box, the prepping of which method actor left you shocked!
Soure :Animated Times
