Actress Natalie Portman pushed herself right to the edge when it came to the film “Black Swan.” Not only did she explore the psychical state of a mentally disturbed ballet dancer, but she also transformed herself physically too. The actress lost 20 pounds for the role making her pretty dangerously thin. While she did have a double, she did practice ballet with a number of dance instructors in a very demanding program.
The actress claims to not belong to the method school of acting and does not use past experiences when channeling certain emotions during her acting but that doesn’t mean she didn’t go through a lot for this role. Portraying a disturbed ballerina is no walk in the park.
Adrien Brody – The Pianist
'The Pianist' is a masterpiece of a film; gut-wrenching, heartbreaking, and unforgettable. A big part of that is Adrien Brody's stellar performance as Wladyslaw Szpilman. Of course, playing the part of a Jewish musician during WWII in Nazi-occupied Poland is not an easy character to portray, and Brody went the extra mile to make it as realistic as possible.
The actor dedicated his every moment to learning the role - he lost 12 kilos, broke up with his girlfriend, sold his phone, his car, and his apartment, and basically made sure that he was as miserable in real life as he is in the film. It worked, though, since Brody became the youngest actor to ever win an Oscar for Best Actor, at the age of 29.
Michelle Williams – My Week With Marilyn
Michelle Williams got to play the one and only Marilyn Monroe in the 2011 film, 'My Week With Marilyn". Obviously, this was a very important role, and Williams wanted to get it just right, so she decided to tie a belt around her legs in order to pull off Monroe's famous walk.
Williams spent weeks learning about Marilyn's life and inner persona. So much so that she even admitted that she had a feeling that Monroe had "taken over".
Shia LaBeouf – Fury
Shia LaBeouf didn't want to just rely on makeup artists to make his wounds look real. He took it a step further and actually decided to cut up his cheek and leave the sore open for the entirety of the production. It didn't stop there. The actor then proceeded to pull out a tooth to amp up the pain.
Of course, when you're portraying a dirty soldier, hygiene isn't a priority, which is why the actor also didn't bathe for a whole month. The rest of the crew and actors had a real hard time working with that smell and pleaded with the actor to go to a different room in between shoots. That's commitment right there!
Ashton Kutcher – Jobs
Ashton Kutcher was determined to get it right for his big role as Steve Jobs in the film "Jobs." The actor tried to copy the notorious tech lord in every way he could, starting with his actual diet. Apparently, that meant a diet made up solely of fruit. Unfortunately, Kutcher's body had a harder time with that than Jobs did, as the actor ended up in the hospital due to severe vitamin deficiency and reduction in bone density
Thankful, the "That '70s Show" actor recovered and returned to production. To put yourself through such medical distress for a role really shows how badly the actor wanted to make it successful. In the end, he didn't do a bad job, Jobs!