19 roles that took a toll on the actors who played them 

Acting is not quite an easy job. Often, it takes a tremendous toll on the actors. Sometimes, it can be physical, while other times, it can be psychological. Every role brings with itself its own set of challenges, and conquering those challenges might leave the actors exposed to a certain group of vulnerabilities that follow them throughout their lives. Here is a list of 19 roles that took a toll on the actors who played them.

19) Bob Hoskins in Who Framed Roger Rabbit

The movie – Who Framed Roger Rabbit is about a private detective who is hired to solve the case of a cartoon actor, Roger Rabbit, and his wife, Jessica Rabbit. This movie segregates the human world from the cartoon world and shows how corruption and greed are common in both worlds. Actor Bob Hoskins, who played the role of the detective, faced quite a lot of problems after this role. Firstly, pretending to see cartoons all the time took a lot of psychological strain on him as he started seeing them in his real life too. Moreover, it also blurred his perception of self.

18) Jim Carrey in How The Grinch Stole Christmas

How the Grinch Stole Christmas is considered a classic movie. It is the backstory of the famous Christmas character – The Grinch- played by Jim Carrey in this movie. While acting in the movie, Jim Carrey had to endure a full-body suit, prosthetics, and a two-hour makeup process. He reported feeling very heavy and burdened in it, and in fact, the discomfort was so much that the directors had to hire Navy SEAL trainers to teach him how to ignore claustrophobic situations.

17) Miley Cyrus in Hannah Montana

The pop star – Miley Cyrus is famous for portraying Miley Stewart in the Disney Channel series – Hannah Montana. The series is about Hannah Montana, a famous pop star who must keep her glamorous life a secret to experience the world as a regular girl. Actor Miley Cyrus has reported that acting for the role took a toll on her self-identity and authenticity because the public got so used to seeing her as Hannah that they refused to accept her real identity.

16) Angelina Jolie in Salt

Angelina Jolie is considered one of the best actresses in Hollywood, but she has faced her own set of problems. While shooting for the 2010 film - Salt, a spy thriller, she faced many physical challenges. Her stunts were intensely demanding, requiring intensive training in martial arts and combat, and she endured a lot of injuries. Moreover, while shooting, she also gained a scar on her face, which is now permanent, and being in the acting profession, getting a scar can be quite damaging to one's career.

15) Sarah Paulson in American Crime Story: The People vs O.J. Simpson

The case of O.J. Simpson and Nicole Brown is quite famous in Hollywood. In 2016, it was portrayed in the series American Crime Story. In this series, Sarah Paulson plays the role of prosecutor Marcia Clark. Portraying the role required her to smoke on-screen as the character that she was playing was a chain smoker. This led to her developing a smoking habit in real life, too, and has become quite addictive for her, especially before shooting any kind of tense scene.

14) Dylan O’Brien in Maze Runner

Shooting for the film Maze Runner, actor Dylan O’Brien endured a devastating accident. While performing a stunt on a moving car, his harness broke, and he fell. The fall wasn't as injurious, but then another vehicle drove over him and dragged him for a long stretch of distance. This resulted in multiple fractures and a severe concussion. The physical and emotional trauma after this accident was a lot, and it took about a year for Dylan to recover. It left him with anxiety about acting.

13) Christian Bale in The Machinist

Christian Bale is a very famous method actor. Often preparing for roles, he gains or loses a significant amount of weight to fit the description of the character he is portraying perfectly. While portraying the role of Trevor Reznik, an insomniac factory worker, he had to lose a lot of weight. His transformation was very extreme as he lost over 60 pounds and had just an apple and a can of tuna every day. This made him very weak and dizzy and also took a psychological toll on him.

12) Daniel Day-Lewis in Gangs of New York

When Daniel Day-Lewis performs a role, he truly commits to it. While acting in the Martin Scorsese film – Gangs of New York, he portrayed the role of Bill Cutting, leader of a Nativist American group. While acting for the movie, he tried to use the method acting style and immersed himself in the 19th century, refusing to wear any modern form of clothing such as a coat in peak winters. This led to him getting severely ill and being diagnosed with pneumonia. Even after this, he refused to eat modern medicines and preferred the treatments of the year 1860s.

11) Lady Gaga in House of Gucci

In the 2021 film – House of Gucci, Lady Gaga portrays the role of Patrizia Reggiani, wife of Maurizio Gucci. In the film, she plays the role of a very manipulative, greedy, and possessive wife who tries to control everything. After shooting, Lady Gaga said that researching deep into the psyche of the character of Patrizia took a very dark toll on her. She became so immersed in her mannerisms that it was tough for her to leave the character behind, and she even became quite entrapped in her trauma and pain. She had to undergo therapy to leave behind the character.

10) Colin Firth in The King’s Speech (King George VI)

The 2010 film – The King’s Speech is about the ascension of King George VI to the throne of Britain. Colin Firth, who portrayed this role, had to learn how to stammer as King George did. He worked with a dialect coach and practiced the stammer for months to make it appear natural and authentic. But even after the shooting finished, he became so used to the stammer that it was tough for him to stop it and speak in a fluent manner.

9) Janet Leigh in Psycho

The 1960 film Psycho is considered a classic horror film directed by Alfred Hitchcock. In the film, Janet Leigh portrays the role of Marion Craine, who is murdered in the shower of a motel. The scene required her to be stabbed by an unknown assailant, almost about 50 times, and took seven days to shoot. The scene took such a heavy emotional toll on the actor that she developed a phobia for showers. After shooting the film, she could only use baths and avoided showers at any cost.

8) Jake Gyllenhaal in Nightcrawler

In the film Nightcrawler, released in 2014, actor Jake Gyllenhaal plays the role of an obsessive paparazzi. His character was ambiguous and on the verge of a mental illness. Preparing for the role disconnected actor Jake Gyllenhaal from reality, and he adapted the darkness of this paparazzi so well that it was a very tough task for him to get over this role. The actor has reported that this role continued to linger in his mind for a long period of time, and he felt the over-ambitiousness of the character seeping into his real life.

7) Tom Hanks in Cast Away

There is a reason why Tom Hanks is considered a legendary actor. He truly commits to his role and can single-handedly make a movie a true success. In the film Cast Away, actor Tom Hanks portrays a FedEx agent stranded on an unknown inhabited island after a plane crash. For the movie, Tom Hanks had to lose 50 pounds, which really deteriorated his health. Moreover, since he was the only actor in the film, working in isolation took another heavy toll on his psychological health as he tried to embrace solitude, but it didn't go as planned.

6) Anne Hathaway in Les Misérables

In the 2012 musical – Les Misérables, actress Anne Hathaway portrays the role of Fantine, a factory worker whose life is filled with tragedies. For the role, Anne Hathaway had to lose a significant amount of weight and also cut her hair on screen. Although she tried her best to be emotionally prepared for the role, the anguish of her character required such raw emotion that even after shooting, she fell into a cycle of despair for a long period of time.

5) Adrien Brody in The Pianist

The film The Pianist is about a talented Jewish pianist whose life is destroyed as anti-semitic laws are passed throughout Europe. The film is about survival and the power of art. To prepare for his role in the movie, Adrien Brody had to lose 30 pounds, change his lifestyle, and take up intense piano training. He even gave up his apartment, sold every materialistic thing that belonged to him, and went to live in loneliness. Isolation took a very intense psychological toll on him, and detaching from the character posed to be a challenge.

4) Uma Thurman in Kill Bill: Volume 2

Kill Bill: Volume 2 is a very successful revenge film directed by Quentin Tarantino. In the film, actress Uma Thurman portrays the role of The Bride, who is taking revenge on an assassination squad for their betrayal. Preparing for the role required martial, combat, and sword fighting, which required intense training. Uma Thurman also endured a car crash during the shoot of the film, which caused permanent damage to her neck and knees. This accident emotionally shook her, and she ceased collaborating with director Tarantino afterward.

3) Leonardo DiCaprio in The Revenant

The 2015 film – The Revenant is about Hugh Glass, who, after a deadly fight with a bear, is injured and is left to die by his fellow companions. The movie shows his survival and perseverance in the extreme climatic and wildlife conditions to exact revenge on the people who abandoned him. Shooting for the movie required actor Leonardo DiCaprio to endure severely cold temperatures and fight with real animals. The movie is characterized by minimal dialogue, leaving the actor in intense isolation. Also, the film drained him emotionally because of his commitment to realism.

2) Natalie Portman in Black Swan

Actress Natalie Portman earned an Oscar for her role in the film Black Swan, and rightly so. The movie is a psychological thriller about a ballerina – Nina Sayers, who descends into madness because of the demand for extreme perfectionism. Preparing for the role required Natalie Portman to practice about eight hours a day for ballet, which pushed her physically. She incurred lots of injuries, including dislocated ribs, and she ended up developing paranoia and almost blurred the line between acting and her real life.

1) Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight

One of the toughest roles in cinematic history is considered that of the character – joker. In the film The Dark Knight, directed by Christopher Nolan, actor Heath Ledger portrays the role of the nemesis – The Joker. To prepare for the role, Heath Ledger adopted the method acting style and locked himself in a hotel room, and sunk so deep into the disturbed mindset of The Joker that he started facing insomnia. It got so taxing for him that he had to take medicines to sleep, which resulted in an overdose, and he ended up taking his life.