Photo: Paramount Classics
When it comes to acting, you can either wing it or go ‘Nam, as they say, with it. While winging it in movies may work for some actors, the ones who are religiously in method acting tend to have the statue to show for it. From Christian Bale going god-awful skinny to Charlize Theron tacking on a few fat rolls, there’s nothing some actors won’t do for a role.
Our boy, Daniel Day-Lewis, who recently retired from acting, is notorious for being one of the most hardcore method actors in the biz, so much so that his costars would avoid him out of sheer fear of the man. He just so happens to have more Oscar wins for Best Actor than any other man in entertainment. Coincidence? Marlon Brando, just the same, had eight nominations and two wins, but you’ll see herein what he was willing to do to get those nom-noms.
Check out more movie actors going method, borderline maniacal, in their roles, which you’ll probably appreciate more by the end of this. Just another reason to love Heath, too.
Maniacal Method Acting That Will Make You Appreciate These Roles Even More
Now let’s shed some spotlight on another legend: The Brief But Brilliantly Irreplaceable Life of James Dean
Method Maniacs
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Daniel Day-Lewis
In pretty much every role of his career, Day-Lewis has been known to be a bit of an extremist. One of his three Oscar speeches, prefacing his retirement from acting, mentioned that his wife had been "living with several different men" over the years. Other actors have said to avoid him because he would get almost too into his roles. Most notably, his role in There Will Be Blood led him to actually start hurling bowling balls at his costar during the filming of its final scenes, like a full-on madman.
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Charlize Theron
For Monster, Charlize Theron gained 30 pounds and drastically changed her look and makeup in order to play of the role of a homicidal hooker. She won an Oscar for Best Actress.
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Heath Ledger
Heath Ledger is one of the few, if that, to pull off an Oscar win for Best Supporting Actor in a superhero film with his role as The Joker. He and Christopher Nolan saw eye to eye on all the existential details involving the character, but probably not eye to eye on locking himself in a hotel room for weeks and taking a cocktail of different pills.
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Joaquin Phoenix
His roles are vastly different from one to the next, but each has a certain level of madness to them. People thought Phoenix had flipped his lid when they saw his late night appearance with David Letterman to promote I'm Still Here. Boy, he got us good!
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Christian Bale
The photo speaks volume of his role in Machinist, getting down to an ungodly and unhealthy weight for his role. Compared to his cut for the Batman films, this is hauntingly scary, definitely not something many actors would be willing to partake in for any ol' role.
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Adrien Brody
Brody, the youngest man to win an Academy Award, prepared for his role in The Pianist by disposing of his phone, car and shredding most of his worldly possessions, along with 30 pounds. He said the isolation and lack of belongings helped him understand loss and disconnection but also the gratitude for human connection when playing a survivor of Warsaw during World War II.
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Johnny Depp
Depp is clearly committed to his makeup trailer, but the actor practiced for weeks for his role in Edward Scissorhands by using his blades for hands. That wouldn't get old fast.
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Robert De Niro
Between moving to Sicily to get his Corleone accent down and working 12-hour shifts as a taxi driver to play Travis Bickle, De Niro is fairly method for a guy who never has to wear any makeup. I heard those Focker nipples were real, too.
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Charlie Hunnam
Hunnam explained in interviews for The Lost City of Z that he didn't have much of a relationship with Robert Pattinson, considering he didn't meet him while filming the movie. That's because he never broke character between scenes, cut himself off in the Amazon and didn't talk to his girlfriend for six months, save for some handwritten letters. Maybe he just doesn't like vampires and relationships, but it was worth it after seeing the finished product.
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Marlon Brando
Brando was pretty OG when it came to method acting, and his role in The Men rang as a reminder when we heard he took up a month of bedrest at a local California military hospital for his role as a paraplegic war vet. Goddamn do we miss him!
