We all know actors love committing to roles, but some can take it…a bit far with their methods — such as extreme weight loss or gain, intense months of preparation, and living and acting like their characters. While there may be a method to the madness, here are 11 times actors went to a whole new level to prepare for a role:
For her role as Patrizia Reggiani in House of Gucci, Lady Gaga spent months living like her character, even speaking in an Italian accent at all times. She claimed she never broke character in the year and a half spent filming the movie. To make matters worse, Reggiani herself felt Gaga took it too far: “I am quite annoyed by the fact that Lady Gaga is playing me in the new Ridley Scott film without even having the foresight and sensitivity to come and meet me.” Shortly after this, Gaga broke character, believing that Reggiani herself sent a swarm of flies after the actress.
2. Jared Leto Suicide Squad (2016)
On the set of Suicide Squad, Jared Leto took to some very strange, disturbing methods for his role as the Joker. Not only did he demand to be referred to as “Mister J,” Leto also gave his other castmates some very twisted gifts, such as used condoms and other used sexual items. One of his castmates, Viola Davis, recalled a time that Leto had someone drop a dead pig in the rehearsal room. Leto even went so far as to gift Margot Robbie, another castmate, a live rat.
3. Austin Butler in Elvis (2022)
For his role as Elvis Presley in Elvis, Austin Butler did some pretty heavy method acting. To portray older versions of the rockstar, Butler gained weight to show the change, rather than using bodysuits. He allegedly would microwave Häagen-Dazs ice cream bars frequently. He explained other measures he took to gain weight, revealing, “I would go get two dozen doughnuts and eat them all. I really started to pack on some pounds. It’s fun for a week or so, and then you feel awful with yourself.” In addition, Butler mentioned he didn’t really see his family for the three years he spent preparing for the role. Butler also spent so much time fixating on Elvis’s dialect that he developed his own “Elvis” voice, which permanently affected his real voice. Through the process, Butler admitted he lost himself at times, becoming too invested in the character and life he was attempting to portray.
4. Leonardo DiCaprio in The Revenant (2016)
In what became his first Oscar-winning performance, Leonardo DiCaprio went to extreme lengths for his role in The Revenant. He adapted to living like a real frontiersman while filming, going so far as to eat raw bison liver and sleep inside animal carcasses. DiCaprio explained how grueling his method acting actually was, stating, “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.”
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5. Daniel Day-Lewis in My Left Foot (1989)
Daniel Day-Lewis is a known method actor, but his approach in My Left Foot was especially immersive — playing an artist who could only use his left foot, he insisted on being pushed everywhere in a wheelchair and crew members feeding and carrying him. This intense commitment to his roles, Day-Lewis later explained during Lincoln, is driven by his belief that method acting helps him create the illusion of becoming another person. He said, “But the truth is the entire game is about creating an illusion, and for whatever reason, and mad as it may sound, some part of me can allow myself to believe for a period of time without questioning, and that’s the trick.”
6. Ashton Kutcher in Jobs (2013)
For his role as Steve Jobs, Ashton Kutcher immersed himself in the life of the tech pioneer. Not only did the actor transition to Jobs’s fruitarian diet, but he also began practicing Buddhism to adapt a similar mindset to Jobs. However, Kutcher took it a little too far and ended up in the hospital after consuming too much carrot juice due to the unusual diet.
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7. Robert De Niro in The Untouchables (1987)
Before filming The Untouchables, Robert De Niro took his preparation to a whole other level of method acting. For his role as Al Capone, De Niro gained 30 pounds and requested replica clothing from Capone’s actual tailors. Despite only having 10 minutes of screen time in the film, De Niro wanted to be as committed and authentic as possible to the real-life American gangster. Similarly, De Niro also went method for his role in The Godfather II, living in Sicily, Italy, for four months.
8. Joaquin Phoenix in Joker (2019)
For his role in Joker, Joaquin Phoenix lost 52 pounds in preparation for Arthur Fleck. His method acting is known to be rigorous, so it’s no surprise he went to extreme lengths to portray this villain’s origin story. He stated, “But I think the interesting thing for me is what I had expected and anticipated with the weight loss was these feelings of dissatisfaction, hunger, a certain kind of vulnerability, and a weakness. But what I didn’t anticipate was this feeling of kind of fluidity that I felt physically.”
9. Jamie Foxx in Ray (2004)
Jamie Foxx isn’t necessarily a method actor, but director Taylor Hackford insisted Foxx immerse himself in the role of Ray Charles in Ray. During filming, Foxx’s eyes would be glued shut and covered with prosthetics in order to mimic blindness. But it came with issues. Foxx suffered from panic attacks early on in filming and said about the whole process, “Imagine having your eyes glued shut for 14 hours a day. That’s your jail sentence.” Foxx also lost nearly 30 pounds to play Ray Charles.
10. Aaron Eckhart in Rabbit Hole (2010)
In the 2010 drama film, Rabbit Hole, Aaron Eckhart played someone who’d just lost their son, and Eckhart took the role to extreme lengths. In preparation, Eckhart went to actual support groups for parents who’d lost their children, even faking crying and making up stories in order to stay in character. When asked about his method acting, Eckhart stated, “You really believe that you just lost a child. You are as close to reality in that sense as possible. I don’t want to be rude to people who have lost a child, but yeah, you feel right there, you feel like your character.”
11. Al Pacino in Scent of a Woman (1992)
Similar to Foxx’s method acting in Ray, Al Pacino also played a blind character in Scent of a Woman, which earned him an Oscar. To prepare for the role, Pacino researched people who’d lost their sight and collaborated with organizations such as New York’s Associated Blind Organization and Lighthouse Guild. He pretended to be blind during filming, which led to him scratching his cornea and suffering from temporary blindness.
Which actors’ methods surprised you the most? Let us know in the comments below.
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