To all the people that have ever said that acting is an easy job to get money, please think again. Yes, it certainly puts you on the radar and you get the opportunity to make a name for yourself across the globe, but it’s still a job that, for many, requires as much training and education as it does natural talent.
Famously, there have been actors whowent Method for a role, diving deeply into their process in order to more or less become their character. Indeed, for many actors who align with this practice, preparing for a role can often been seen on the outside as going overboard, completely changing their lifestyles and thinking processes to those of their characters. Here are eight of the most bizarre things actors have done to give us an amazing performance.
8Choi Min-sik — Oldboy
Choi Min-sikis not one of the most recognized actors in South Korea for nothing. The actor is used to changing appearances for his roles, but his dedication doesn’t end there. Min-sik is fairly known to star in disturbingly violent movies, whether it’s him getting tortured, like inOldboy, or he’s doing the torturing, like inI Saw the Devil.Oldboy, in pricular, tells a story of a man who’s been held captive in a hotel for 15 years. When he finally gets out, he seeks out revenge by killing his tormenters. Instead of playing pretend, perCollider, Choi actually burned himself for some of the scenes. If that wasn’t enough, despite his vegeterian lifestyle, he decided to stuff himself with a whole octopus to make each take worth it.
Related:David Harbour Blasts Method Acting, Calls Daniel Day-Lewis’s Approach ‘Nonsense’
7Leonardo DiCaprio — The Revenant
We all know the lengths thatLeonardo DiCapriogoes through to reach perfection for his diverse roles, and we’re sure everyone’s heard aboutThe Revenant.The movie tells the story of Hugh Glass as he survives a bear attack and has to trek across complete wilderness to seek revenge for his friend. Director Alejandro González Iñárritu wanted to make the acting experience as realistic as possible, therefore the whole crew actually had to work under such extremely freezing conditions. Although the world-class actor could have asked for special treatment, DiCaprio also decided to endure them, to the point of getting hypothermia. He didn’t stop there: despite being a vegeterian, perVanity Fair, DiCaprio ate raw bison for his scenes and he also slelpt inside an animal carcass.
6Halle Berry — Jungle Fever
Halle Berryhas been in the acting industry for almost 30 years and has played numerous different characters. Despite her long-lasting career, she admitted that she wouldn’t consider herself to be a method actress. Well, we beg to differ. The movieJungle Fever—which marked her film debut — centres around an interracial relationship against the backdrop of New York. It discusess the themes of racism and drugs that disproportionately affect the Black community. As for Berry, she plays drug addict Vivian. To properly get into the role, Berry decided to refrain from showering for ten days.
5Jared Leto — Requiem for a Dream
Jared Letois one of the actors that is widely known forusing method actingand taking it to extremes. For his role of the Joker inSuicide Squad, Leto immersed himself in the role by sending random dead animals to his co-workers on a regular basis. However, the role that completely ruined him was his role of a heroine addict Harry Goldfarb in the psychological dramaRequiem for a Dream. It tells the story of heroine addicts whose addiction gets severely worse that they’re forced to abandon their initial dreams. To know what it feels like to live as a drug addict, Leto would embark on a New York adventure every night to wander with other drug-users and get the experience first-hand. He was also forced to lose an incredible amount of weight, which led him to developing an eating disorder.
4Robert Pattinson — The Lighthouse
AlthoughRobert Pattinsonspoke against method acting numerous times before, he decided to try it for his role of the lighthouse keeper in the movieTheLighthousein which he stars alongside Willem Dafoe. The two get stranded on the outpost due to a destructive storm and are forced to undergo a psychological turmoil full of drinking. Pattinson’s character Ephraim Winslow in particular goes through a lot of disturbing scenes in the movie, to which the actor was wholly dedicated. To fully immerse himself, Pattinson tried making himself throw up and piss; in fact, he almost threw up on Dafoe himself while shooting a scene. Given how he finds the practice revolting, he probably won’t be trying it anytime soon again.
Related:These Actors Got Way Too Deep Into Character
3Hilary Swank — Boys Don’t Cry
Hilary Swankhas been acting ever since her 1992 role inBuffy The Vampire Slayer,but what truly earned her a global recognition was her role of a transgender man Brandon Teena in the biographical movieBoys Don’t Cry. The plot is based on a real-life story of a transgender man who leaves for Nebraska to find love, but is instead met with hate crimes, one after the other. Swank was dedicated to the role right from the get-go, auditioning in her husband’s clothing. Right after getting the role, the actress decided to live as a man for months. For a whole month, in fact, she was bandaging her chest and speaking in a baritone voice to make herself sound like a man.
2Shia LaBeouf — Fury
Shia LaBeoufis known to have pulled some crazy stunts when immersed in a role and is definitely no stranger to method acting. Although he has confessed he doesn’t do it that often anymore, in his previous roles, he would drink so much on the set that it would make his co-workers concerned for him. He also got his entire torso tattoed for his role in theTax Collector. Of course, the most bizarre lengths he’s ever gone for a role was for the war filmFury, where he plays Technician Fifth Grade Boyd. LaBeouf went so far as ignoring hygiene, visiting a dentist to remove one of his teeth, and inflicting an actual scar on his face.
1Nicolas Cage — Vampire’s Kiss
Last but not least, we have to talk about the king of bizzare actions on set:Nicolas Cage. He uses a method called “Nouveau Shamanic,” which is considered an experimental approach to acting because of the hyperactive style. Cage has used this style from acting in drama movies to comedies; some enjoy it and some may not. What’s certain is that Cage is willing to cross moral boundaries to make his role as realistic as possible. The movie that gets mentioned the most, when talking about his bizarre preparations for a role, isVampire’s Kiss,where Cage’s character believes he has become a vampire and his behaviour escalates overnight. Although the director suggested for Cage to eat raw eggs for a certain scene, the actor insisted on eating something more extreme. Cage ended up eating live cockroaches and even asked to have hot yogurt poured over his toes to express more passion.
