5 actors who went too far for their movie roles

Many actors have gone too far to portray a particular role in the film. Call it method acting or anything else, these performers went the extra mile to get into the skin of the role they had to play.

While most actors just read the character sketch and memorize the lines, some are a cut above the rest and don't settle for less. So here is a list of five such actors who have done the same for their respective projects. These are actors who went too far and created something of substance. So let's dive into the list.

5 actors who went too far for a film role

1) Leonardo DiCaprio in The Revenant

Leonardo DiCaprio plays Hugh Glass in The Revenant, who was a frontiersman, hunter, and trader. The role that finally earned him his long-awaited Academy Award had him do several weird things. He reportedly ate raw parts of a bison. Not just that, the actor is shown sleeping inside an animal's carcass, which is what he did for real.

2) Tom Hanks in Cast Away

Tom Hanks portrayed Chuck Noland, a FedEx employee, in Cast Away. To prepare for that role, he lost around 50 pounds of weight. He also did not cut his hair or take a shower, as he wanted to truly showcase the time transition. All these things made him unwell, and an infection of Staph. Hence, he has made it to the list of actors who went too far.

3) Gary Oldman in Darkest Hour

In the 2017 biographical war drama film Darkest Hour, British actor Gary Oldman portrays Winston Churchill as he was the UK's Prime Minister during the Second World War. Imitating Churchill's habit of smoking, the actor ended up smoking cigars worth around $30,000. Because of this, he suffered from nicotine poisoning.

4) Daniel Day-Lewis in Gangs of New York

Daniel Day-Lewis is known to be a method actor as he puts his might behind any role he takes on. This is exactly what happened with Martin Scorsese's 2002 historical drama film. Daniel portrays Washington Street Gang leader William Cutting, aka Bill the Butcher. He only wore outfits that were period correct, which caused him to have pneumonia. He also taught himself to touch his eyes with a knife, wore glass contact lenses, and picked random fights with strangers.

5) Jamie Foxx in Ray

Jamie Foxx portrayed soul musician Charles Ray in the 2004 film Ray. To prepare for his role in this Taylor Hackford-directed film, Foxx was asked to wear prosthetics to showcase Ray's eyelids that were damaged. He glued his eyelids for the same. In a separate interview, the actor confessed that he experienced panic attacks during the shoot. Even Ray approved of Foxx playing him on screen.

In an interview with the New York Times, Foxx said,

"Imagine having your eyes glued shut for 14 hours a day. That's your jail sentence."

Even his friends would leave him at the food table, assuming he could see and would return. The above instances are examples of pure dedication and method acting.

Which one of these actors who went too far that you really like?