20 times actors took method acting to extreme levels 

20) Sean Penn in Fast Times at Ridgemont High

Sean Penn resorted to method acting when he portrayed the character of Jeff Spicoli in Fast Times at Ridgemont High in 1982. In order to prepare for his role as a rebellious teenager, he embodied the character and for the duration of the shoot, always remained in his role. Even off the sets, he would speak so nonchalantly, slowly and indifferently that it started annoying other cast and crew members.

19) Anne Hathaway in Les Miserables

Anne Hathaway’s portrayal of Fantine in Les Miserables was an extreme case of method acting. She lost 25 pounds, got her hair cut on camera and simply focused on living a life surrounded in despair. She immersed herself so deep in her character that it transcended into her performance of the song ‘I Dreamed a Dream’, which earned her many accolades.

18) Johnny Depp in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

Johnny Depp portrayed the role of Raoul Duke in the movie Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. This role was based on the life of Hunter S. Thompson. To prepare for the role, Depp lived with Thompson for months. He copied his mannerisms and even shared his wardrobe. He not only shaved his head to match his physical appearance to the character, but also adopted his twitchy movements and speech.

17) Tom Hanks in Cast Away

The movie Cast Away was based on the journey of a delivery agent, who after a plane crash is stuck all alone on an island with no means of survival. To perfect his role, Tom Hanks took extensive training in outdoor survival skills. He not only learned how to make fire and adapted various techniques of fishing, but also took a physically transformative journey by losing 50 pounds, growing a beard and long hair. He isolated himself from people to genuinely portray loneliness and it also ended up taking a toll on his mental health.

16) Jared Leto in Suicide Squad

Jared Leto portrayed the character of Joker in Suicide Squad. Joker was a twisted, mental and gangster character. To fully embrace the mind and inner working of Joker, Jared Leto stayed in character at all times. He asked everyone to address him as Mister J, and kept on sending absolutely bizarre gifts to his co-stars. These gifts often included dead animals like rats or pigs and sometimes, even bullets or knifes.

15) Jamie Foxx in Ray

Jamie Foxx’s portrayal of Ray Charles in Ray was so good that it earned him an Academy Award, a Golden Globe and even a Screen Actors Guild Award. To fully embody his character, Jamie Fox would wear face prosthetics for 14 hours, which left him unable to see while filming. He event went on to learn and play the piano pieces in the film all by himself.

14) Jim Carrey in Man on the Moon

Jim Carrey, while portraying the role of stand up comedian - Andy Kaufman, adopted such intense method acting that he often got into clashes with his co-stars for being rude. Still he refused to break character and even started committing pranks on people just like Kaufman would do. He even spent a huge amount of time with Andy in real life, learning and embodying his mannerisms.

13) Meryl Streep in The Devil Wears Prada

The character of Miranda Priestly in The Devil Wars Prada is infamous for being shrewd, cruel and cold. Actor Meryl Streep, who portrays the role actually became Miranda Priestly while filming. She inhibited the cold exterior of the magazine editor so well that her co-stars - Anne Hathaway and Emily Blunt were terrified of her.

12) Robert De Niro in The Untouchables

Robert De Niro did a lot of handwork for his role as Al Capone in the movie The Untouchables. He not only embraced the vanity of the character but also his Chicago accent. He worked tirelessly on perfecting his accent. De Niro gained about 30 pounds and insisted on staying in character between breaks.

11) Al Pacino in Scent of a Woman

Al Pacino portrayed the role of a blind retired army general in the movie Scent of a Woman. He was so dedicated to his role that he trained at New York institute for the Blind and even remained blind on set through the use of a blindfold. He used a cane or other means to navigate his way. He even perfected the unfocused fazed eye movement to more genuinely portray blindness.

10) Lady Gaga in House of Gucci

In the movie, House of Gucci, Lady Gaga portrays the character of Patrizia Reggiani, the cunning wife of Maurizio Gucci. For this role, Lady Gaga lived as Patrizia Reggiani would for an year and a half. She would genuinely put herself in pain to honestly convey her emotions. She also mastered Italian accent.

9) Sylvester Stallone in Rocky IV

When Sylvester Stallone acted as a boxer in the movie Rocky IV, he insisted on being as true to the character as possible. To achieve this, he not only went through extensive training and maintained a strict diet, but also asked to film real fight scenes. During one of these scenes, he got severely injured, but still continued the fight scene in order for it to look authentic.

8) Daniel Day Lewis in Gangs of New York

For his role as Bill ‘The Butcher’ in Gangs of New York, Daniel Day Lewis insisted on wearing 19th century clothes, both on and off the screen. Despite freezing cold, he still stuck to the attire of his character and even suffered from pneumonia. Things took an even extreme turn when for the treatment of his pneumonia, he refused taking modern day medicines and asked for traditional treatment.

7) Shia LaBeouf in Fury

Shia LeBeouf acted as Boyd Swan in Fury, a soldier during the World War II era. To do justice to his character, he stayed in isolation and stopped speaking to people until absolutely necessary. He underwent weight loss and even got real tattoos done on him as a part of the role. Additionally, he resorted to fasting and underwent rigorous mental deprivation exercises.

6) Nicholas Cage in Birdy

In Birdy, Nicholas Cage portrays the role of a Vietnam War soldier known as Al Columbato. As a part of his method acting, he went on to pull out his baby teeth without any anaesthesia, in order to understand pain. He lived in a bandage for about five weeks and lost a significant amount of weight.

5) Leonardo DiCaprio in The Revenant

Leonardo DiCaprio was super dedicated in his role for The Revenant. DiCaprio went and lived outdoors in extreme conditions of the Canadian wilderness in order to understand the mindset of his character. In fact, despite being a vegan in real life, he even ate raw animal liver to add authenticity to his scenes. If that wasn't enough, he even submerged himself in freezing water and performed his own stunts.

4) Austin Butler in Elvis

To portray the character of the legendary singer Elvis Presley, Austin Butler underwent two years of training. He worked with a number of vocal and dialect coaches and infused the mannerisms and behaviour of Presley in his everyday actions. He researched and read everything he could find on Elvis and listened to all his songs. To gain weight, he microwaved ice - cream and drank it, which eventually took such a toll on him that he had to be hospitalised.

3) Adrien Brody in The Pianist

Adrien Brody in the film The Pianist acts as Jewish pianist during the Nazi regime. He lost a lot of weight and underwent intense piano training for hours every single day. To genuinely portray the loss and isolation of his character, he broke up with his girlfriend, sold his apartment, sold his car and went to live in Europe for a couple of months. Nonetheless, his acting was phenomenal and earned him an Oscar.

2) Christian Bale in The Machinist

Christian Bale in The Machinist played the role of a guilt-ridden man who has severe insomnia and delusions. In preparing for this role, Bale lost 60 pounds and ate just an apple and a can of tuna daily. To this date, this achievement remains the most amount of weight an actor has ever lost for a film. In fact, it has also been reported that often he wouldn’t eat anything and just smoke cigarettes and drink whiskey.

1) Heath Ledger's method acting extremes in The Dark Knight

Heath Ledger embodied the role of Joker in The Dark Knight in a method acting performance that will be remembered for generations to come. He locked himself in a hotel room in London for weeks and kept a journal noting down his dark and twisted thoughts. To explore the madness and psychotic nature of Joker, he actively studied psychopaths. Portraying this dark character took a great toll on Heath Ledger's health and he reportedly started facing sleeping problems in real life. Post his demise, police stated that he died from an accidental overdose of painkillers, anti-anxiety drugs and sleeping pills.