Top 10 Craziest Things Actors Have Done for Famous Roles
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Top 10 Craziest Things Actors Have Done for Famous Roles
Top 10 Iconic Roles Almost Played by Different Actors
Sometimes, dedication to the craft becomes just flat out crazy. For this list, we’re looking at actors who went to extremes to nail their character – be it gaining weight or something more extreme. Except for Jackie Chan, because that dude needs a list all to himself. Oh wait, he has one! Our countdown will include films such as "Good Time" (2017), "The Dark Knight" (2008) and "Philadelphia" (1993).
#10: Robert Pattinson lived in rags
Robert Pattinson Is Batman
"Good Time" (2017) Never has an actor been more ready to shed his teen years than Robert Pattinson. After being stalked by paparazzi, Donald Trump and teens everywhere for his role as Edward in "Twilight" – a project he openly mocks to this day – the kid had something to prove. And did he ever. Pattinson served as David Cronenberg's muse before landing "Good Time", where he plays a lowlife misanthrope desperate to get his brother out of jail. His hair would come out in messy chunks. So deep in character did he get, he worked in-character at a car wash and lived in a dingy basement apartment pre-production. There's a reason we're rooting for his casting as the new Batman.
#9: Jared Leto gained 67 pounds
Jared Leto to Star as Hugh Hefner in New PLAYBOY Biopic – The CineFiles Ep. 41
"Chapter 27" (2007) Consider this entry one of the most extreme, because between mailing his "Suicide Squad" co-stars used condoms – one of the Joker's best known gags... now? We guess? – and gaining an absurd amount of weight for an extreme performance of John Lennon's “Catcher in the Rye” obsessed murderer, Leto is full-on meta. The actor packed on 67 pounds for this minor release that he must've assumed was Oscar-bait. Mind you, the film was so little seen and its central character so universally despised, that Leto's efforts and dedication may have been wasted.
#8: Meryl Streep learned Polish
Top 10 Meryl Streep Performances
"Sophie's Choice" (1982) It's not unusual for an actor to work with a voice coach to learn an accent. They may study with them arduously, learning every tic, every verbal cue that in their own linguistic culture would come across as abnormal. There are many great examples, but few have anything on Meryl Streep. In her heartrending role as a Polish mother who must choose which of her children will be executed in a concentration camp, Meryl seemingly said, "Screw it, I'll just learn Polish." It paid off, and it's one of her most memorably haunting roles in a long line of them.
#7: Heath Ledger became the Joker
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"The Dark Knight" (2008) "I warned him," former 'Joker' actor Jack Nicholson said to the press after Heath Ledger's death. But despite his predecessor's caution, Ledger dove deep into the role of the agent of chaos in Gotham, so much so that it earned him a posthumous Oscar. Heath not only stayed in a dingy motel for six weeks before the shoot and filled journals in-character, he also had a pretty good eye – as he directed the videos the Joker broadcast to intimidate the general public. Ultimately, he died of an accidental overdose of sleeping pills, a sad carry-over from how deep into the role he really was.
#6: Tom Hanks lost 30 pounds to portray an AIDS Patient
"Philadelphia" (1993) You know who loves Tom Hanks? Everyone. He's America's Sweetheart, and it's completely warranted. Take, for instance, "Philadelphia", for which Hanks lost nearly 30 pounds to appear as an AIDS-ridden lawyer suing his firm for discrimination. He rightly received his first Oscar win for the role, and his performance is downright heartbreaking. Alternately, co-star Denzel Washington was asked to put on pounds, and would tauntingly eat chocolate bars in front of a very hungry man. What would he do for a Klondike bar? Not share it with Hanks, apparently.
#5: Daniel Day-Lewis worked as a cobbler
Top 10 Daniel Day-Lewis Performances
"Gangs of New York" (2002) Ah, the first appearance of Daniel Day Lewis on this list... that we know of. Be it living on the set of "The Crucible" and refusing any modern technology for months on end to learning to paint with the infamous left foot, there's little Day-Lewis won't do for a role. For "Gangs of New York", he went gonzo, pulling no punches as Bill the Butcher. And Scorsese wanted authenticity, going as far as to fly him to New York City while he was working as a cobbler under, well, let's say false pretenses. A broken nose, a greasy hairstyle and an intentionally screwed up eyeball later, and heeeereee's Bill.
#4: Shia LaBeouf converted to Christianity
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"Fury" (2014) Say what you will about his performance art; Shia LaBeouf has come a long way from playing Sam Witwicky in the "Transformers" films, and you cannot deny the kid's got spunk. For David Ayers' "Fury", he nailed the role of 'Bible' Boyd Swan, going so far as to actually convert to and get baptized into Christianity. And, just in case you didn't think that was enough to commit, he pulled his own teeth out for good measure. For such a minor exercise in action film making, you start to wonder if he didn't actually have pet robots.
#3: Robert De Niro put the method in method acting
Top 10 Robert De Niro Moments
“Raging Bull” (1980), “Cape Fear” (1991) & “Taxi Driver” (1976) Sure, De Niro has done some sillier work in recent years. His best work, though, is a stunning display of dedication to the craft. This is a man who put on over 60 pounds of muscle for the first half of "Raging Bull", only to get fat for its finale, and flew from Rome to NYC to drive a cab in preparation for “Taxi Driver” during breaks from “1900”. But the coup de grâce has to be his portrayal of Max Cady in "Cape Fear". Not only did he pay an orthodontic surgeon a bundle to screw up his teeth to elicit the most horrifying nightmare of a man, he then had to pay to get them fixed again.
#2: Christian Bale making weight
Top 20 Greatest Christian Bale Performances
"The Machinist" (2004) &"Vice"(2018) There's no shortage of actors willing to lose or gain weight for a role, but few are willing to go as far as Christian Bale. For his role as a lowly, off-putting factory worker in "The Machinist", Bale lost so much weight to look emaciated, he went on a four-month diet consisting of water, an apple and one cup of coffee a day. This resulted in him dropping 62 pounds. That wasn't enough – he wanted to go down to 99 pounds, but the producers wouldn't let him risk his health. Right after, he beefed up for "Batman Begins" and since then, he went up 40 pounds to play the Darth Vader of politics: Dick Cheney in "Vice". Before we reveal our number one pick, here are some honorable mentions: Tony Todd Allowed Himself to be Stung by 23 Bees “Candyman” (1992) Marlon Brando Lived as a Paraplegic in a Veterans Affairs Hospital "The Men" (1950) 50 Cent Dropped 50 lb in 9 Weeks "All Things Fall Apart" (2011) Halle Berry Didn't Shower for Almost 2 Weeks to Portray a Junkie "Jungle Fever" (1991) Margot Robbie Trained to be a Figure Skater "I, Tonya" (2017)
#1: Leonardo DiCaprio survived brutal weather and got attacked by a bear
"The Revenant" (2015) Director Alejandro González Iñárritu has a reputation of excellent, groundbreaking storytelling combined with elaborate camera stunts, such as Best Picture winner "Birdman" being told in entirely one shot. His followup, "The Revenant" had an equally complex shooting schedule, and star Leonardo DiCaprio was game. For his role as bloodthirsty Hugh Glass, the actor was forced to shoot the film in sequence, made all the more arduous by a realistic on-screen bear attack and brutally cold weather that had several crew members quit. Nevertheless, DiCaprio acted through extremely difficult conditions to an Academy Award win.