July 9, 2024 | Kaddy Gibson

15 Times Actors Took “Method” Too Far


They Went To The Extreme

Since its inception in the Golden Age of Hollywood, method acting has become one of the most captivating and controversial aspects of filmmaking. In their drive to truly understand their characters, some actors take on aspects of a role even when the cameras aren't rolling—but these actors took things a little too far, risking everything for the perfect performance. 

method acting

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Gary Oldman—Darkest Hour

Gary Oldman is known for his incredible transformations but molding himself into Winston Churchill made the actor seriously ill.

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It was bad enough that he had to wear 14 pounds of prosthetics, but it was Churchill’s love of Cuban cigars that was the real problem.

Screenshot from the movie Darkest Hour (2017)Universal, Darkest Hour (2017)

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Gary Oldman—Darkest Hour

Churchill’s Romeo y Julieta Cubans are as iconic as the man himself, so to make his performance truly convincing, Oldman sparked up a new cigar for each new take of single scene. That added up to 400 Cubans, and a bad case of nicotine poisoning for Oldman.

Screenshot from the movie Darkest Hour (2017)Universal, Darkest Hour (2017)

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Sylvester Stallone—Rocky IV

Sylvester Stallone and Dolph Lundgren held nothing back when it came to portraying the iconic fight between Rocky and Drago in Rocky IV. Lundgren hit Stallone with real punches, and while it made for an excellent scene, it also landed Stallone in the hospital.

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Screenshot from the movie Rocky IV (1985)MGM, Rocky IV (1985)

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Sylvester Stallone—Rocky IV

The blows from Lundgren were so bad that Stallone nearly lost his life, and had to be flown from Canada to California for intensive treatment. As Stallone recalls: "Later that night, my heart started to swell, my blood pressure went up to 260, and I was going to be talking to angels”.

Screenshot from the movie Rocky IV (1985)MGM, Rocky IV (1985)

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Daniel Day-Lewis—Gangs Of New York

Daniel Day-Lewis’ method acting has inspired many other Hollywood stars. One of his greatest roles was William "Bill the Butcher" Cutting. To start getting into character, Day-Lewis refused to wear anything other than clothing from the 1860s, when the film takes place.

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He caught pneumonia from doing that and then took his immersion to a whole other level. 

Screenshot from the movie Gangs of New York (2002)Miramax, Gangs of New York (2002)

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Daniel Day-Lewis—Gangs Of New York

Lewis continued his transformation by wearing glass contact lenses and learning to tap his closed eye with a knife in preparation for a particular scene in the movie. Then, to really cement his persona as Bill the Butcher, he went out and started fights with strangers while still in character.

Screenshot from the movie Gangs of New York (2002)Miramax, Gangs of New York (2002)

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Tom Hanks—Cast Away

To really become stranded FedEx analyst Chuck Noland, Tom Hanks lost 50 pounds.

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This was clear to audiences, but few people know that he took his method acting a step further—much to the detriment of his health.

Screenshot from the movie Cast Away (2000)Twentieth Century, Cast Away (2000)

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Tom Hanks—Cast Away

Hanks refused to bathe or cut his hair during his time as Chuck Noland. This went on long enough to leave him with a serious staph infection, but his dedication to the role left audiences with an iconic performance.

Screenshot from the movie Cast Away (2000)Twentieth Century, Cast Away (2000)

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Leonardo DiCaprio—The Revenant

The Revenant sees Leonardo DiCaprio embody fur trapper Hugh Glass as he struggles to survive a trip gone wrong in the Dakotas.

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The role earned DiCaprio his first Academy Award for Best Actor, but it also took a grueling toll on the actor.

Screenshot from the movie The Revenant (2015)Twentieth Century, The Revenant (2015)

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Leonardo DiCaprio—The Revenant

To prepare for the role, DiCaprio camped out in the wilderness and went through full training to become an outdoorsman. Then during filming, his beliefs—and fortitude—were put to the test. The scene where he sleeps in an animal carcass was real, as was the scene of him eating raw bison liver. That’s gross enough but was made more difficult by the fact the DiCaprio is a vegan.

Screenshot from the movie The Revenant (2015)Twentieth Century, The Revenant (2015)

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Dustin Hoffman—Kramer Vs. Kramer

Dustin Hoffman’s portrayal of a divorcee is still one of his greatest performances, but the lengths he took to get into character left even co-star Meryl Streep shocked. First, Hoffman made an unscripted move by smashing a wine glass against the wall in a dinner scene.

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But it was what Hoffman did when the camera wasn’t rolling that really got Streep angry.

Screenshot from the movie Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)Columbia, Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)

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Dustin Hoffman—Kramer Vs. Kramer

In an interview with The New York Times, Streep admitted that Hoffman had slapped her during a break in filming. His reason? To “help” make her acting better. Yeah, we're pretty sure Meryl Streep needs no help in that department.

Screenshot from the movie Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)Columbia, Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)

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Christian Bale—The Machinist

Christian Bale’s portrayal of tormented machinist Trevor Reznik is one of the most infamous cases of extreme method acting. To really dive into his character’s extreme guilt over an accident at work, Bale lost 62 pounds. At the time, it was the most weight anyone had ever lost for a movie role.

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Screenshot from the movie The Machinist (2004)Paramount, The Machinist (2004)

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Christian Bale—The Machinist

To achieve his emaciated look, Bale ate only apples, water, and coffee. He topped off that bland diet with smokes and whiskey. Of course, that all took a toll on Bale’s health, but he went on to shock the world again when—just a year later—he appeared as the super-fit Bruce Wayne in Batman Begins.

Screenshot from the movie The Machinist (2004)Paramount, The Machinist (2004)

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Adrien Brody—The Pianist

Adrien Brody took extreme measures to become Władysław Szpilman, a Polish-Jewish pianist whose life is derailed by the Nazi invasion of Warsaw. Brody said he wanted to really feel a similar “hollowness and emptiness” as his character—and he started by starving himself.

Screenshot from the movie The Pianist (2002)Canal+, The Pianist (2002)

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Adrien Brody—The Pianist

To complete that overwhelming feeling of loss, Brody sold his car, and left his apartment to move to Europe. Luckily, his extreme method acting didn’t just lead to a stellar performance; it also got him an Academy Award for Best Actor.

Screenshot from the movie The Pianist (2002)Canal+, The Pianist (2002)

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Jim Carrey—Man On The Moon

Andy Kaufman was a legendary comedian, so of course, Jim Carrey would go above and beyond to embody Kaufman.

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Carrey stayed in character throughout the whole production—and even claimed that he was possessed by Kaufman’s ghost.

Screenshot from the movie Man on the Moon (1999)Universal, Man on the Moon (1999)

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Jim Carrey—Man On The Moon

While some people think Carrey’s commitment to the role was a stroke of genius, others think he created an exaggerated version of Kaufman. What’s certain, though, is that Carrey left everyone else on set stressed by his antics. He was even mean to wrestler Jerry Lawler, who had actually been friends with Andy Kaufman.

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Screenshot from the movie Man on the Moon (1999)Universal, Man on the Moon (1999)

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Shia LaBeouf—Fury

Shia LaBeouf shed blood, sweat, and tears to crank out one his greatest performances in Fury—and we mean that literally. Instead of visiting hair and makeup to make cuts on his cheek, LaBeouf sliced his own cheek. He even opened the cuts up between takes for continuity.

Screenshot from the movie Fury (2014)Columbia, Fury (2014)

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Shia LaBeouf—Fury

To complete his transformation, LaBeouf neglected his hygiene throughout filming. Then he really took things to the extreme by having a tooth pulled out

Screenshot from the movie Fury (2014)Columbia, Fury (2014)

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Nicolas Cage—Birdy

Nicolas Cage also endured a painful transformation for his role as Vietnam War soldier Al Columbato.

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He started by pulling out a few of his teeth, and to really immerse himself, he didn’t use any anesthetic during his DIY operation.

Screenshot from the movie Birdy (1984)TriStar, Birdy (1984)

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Nicolas Cage—Birdy

Then, to portray his character’s injury from a bomb, Cage refused to take off the bandages—for five weeks. When he finally took them off, he was left with acne and painful ingrown hairs. Luckily, his pain paid off and won him the coveted Grand Prix Spécial du Jury at the Cannes Film Festival.

Screenshot from the movie Birdy (1984)TriStar, Birdy (1984)

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Jared Leto—Suicide Squad

Jared Leto’s portrayal of the Joker stirred up a lot of controversy—and the same can be said of his method acting antics behind the scenes. Leto freely admitted that he went to the extreme, and even took to mailing grotesque things to his co-stars.

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Screenshot from the movie Suicide Squad (2016)Warner Bros., Suicide Squad (2016)

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Jared Leto—Suicide Squad

Some of the disgusting items Leto sent included animals (both dead and alive), used contraceptives, and adult toys. Leto later backpedaled and denied sending anything too explicit. He went on to say that his parcels were “received with laughter, fun, and adventure…” Yeah, we’re not buying that one.

Screenshot from the movie Suicide Squad (2016)Warner Bros., Suicide Squad (2016)

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Daniel Day-Lewis—The Crucible

Is it really a surprise that Daniel Day-Lewis is making another appearance on this list? When it came time to dive into his role as John Proctor in The Crucible, the actor figured the best way to that was to live in the on-set 17th-century town. Having no water or electricity must have been hard, but of course it wasn’t enough for Day-Lewis.

Screenshot from the movie The Crucible (1996)Twentieth Century, The Crucible (1996)

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Daniel Day-Lewis—The Crucible

To really get a feel for life in the 17th century, Day-Lewis built his own house, using only rustic tools from that era. To complete the immersion, he gave up his motorcycle and rode around on a horse instead.

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Screenshot from the movie The Crucible (1996)Twentieth Century, The Crucible (1996)

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Jamie Foxx—Ray

To pull off his stellar performance of the legendary Ray Charles, Jamie Foxx wanted to really feel what it would be like to live as a blind man. When it came to gaining that experience, the actor did more than method acting—he traumatized himself.

Screenshot from the movie Ray (2004)Universal, Ray (2004)

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Jamie Foxx—Ray

Foxx went to the extreme and literally glued his eyes closed. That was bad enough, but it also led to severe panic attacks.

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Luckily, Foxx didn’t keep his eyes glued throughout the entire production run and wore prosthetic eyelids. These, however, were only slightly less panic-inducing than the glue.

Screenshot from the movie Ray (2004)Universal, Ray (2004)

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Matthew McConaughey—Dallas Buyers Club

Matthew McConaughey dove deep to portray Ron Woodruff, a rodeo cowboy who was struggling with HIV. McConaughey knew he’d have to lose weight, and even called Tom Hanks to get some advice on how to do so. But shedding 50 pounds was only the first drastic step he took.

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Screenshot from the movie Dallas Buyers Club (2013)Focus Features, Dallas Buyers Club (2013)

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Matthew McConaughey—Dallas Buyers Club

To pull off a sickly, pale appearance, McConaughey refused to go outside. He was indoors so long that he started to lose his eyesight. Needless to say, he pulled off the performance, but we still can’t help but wonder if going to such lengths is ever really worth it.

Screenshot from the movie Dallas Buyers Club (2013)Focus Features, Dallas Buyers Club (2013)

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