Sometimes "getting into character" means a certain level of body modification. Whether it's slimming down, bulking up, or something more painful, Hollywood's finest will go the distance.
Getting Into Character
Not many jobs require applicants to get pierced, put on weight, or take off 40 pounds, but in Hollywood that's par for the course. Sometimes the body modification pays off in an Oscar nod or critical acclaim, and other times, it's just a sideshow. Let's check out some of the most famous cases of getting deep into character.
Daniel Radcliffe
Daniel Radcliffe doesn't look very Harry Potter-like in the right-side photo, does he? The new pale, gaunt version of Radcliffe comes in preparation for his role in the stage production of The Cripple Inishmaan, in which he plays a malnourished orphan with a weakened left arm and permanently stiff leg.
Chris Pratt
Chris Pratt, is that you? Anna Faris' husband practically looked like a different person in a recent Instagram picture, which highlighted the intense body transformation he's gone through for The Guardians of the Galaxy. The actor wrote with the drool-worthy pic: "Six months no beer. #GOTG Kinda douchey to post this but my brother made me."
Matthew McConaughey
Matthew McConaughey underwent quite a transformation from the beefcake bod he showed off in Magic Mike when he played an AIDS patient in the upcoming film The Dallas Buyers Club. McConaughey carried on an extreme diet to slim down, dropping a total of 30 pounds.
Anne Hathaway
If you ever wondered what Anne Hathaway would look like with a buzz cut, Les Miserables solved that mystery. The 30-year-old actress prepared for the role of single mother-turned-prostitute Fantine by chopping her long flowing locks and starting a 500 calorie a day diet to appear more gaunt. The dramatic transformation eventually paid off with an Oscar.
Christian Bale
Christian Bale is no stranger to abusing his body for a part. He can buff up for a role like Batman, but most striking is his ability to drop weight. Bale famously dropped a record-setting 65 pounds to get down to a weight of 110 for The Machinist. He did the skinny thing again to play drug addict and boxer Dicky Eklund in The Fighter, which paid off with an Oscar.
Rooney Mara
You almost wouldn't recognize Rooney Mara if your only exposure to the young actress was her breakout role as Lisbeth Salander in the American version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. The beautiful Mara delved deep into her character's dark persona and didn't shy away from actually piercing her ears, lip, nose, and nipples. And she did them all in one session!
Matt Damon
Like Christian Bale, Matt Damon regularly changes his body depending on his next movie. He fattened up for The Informant, slimmed down to a gaunt look in Courage Under Fire, and got ripped for the Bourne movies. Heck, he even went bald for a recent project.
Ryan Gosling
Ryan Gosling's purposeful weight gain actually got him fired from 2009's The Lovely Bones. The movie was originally supposed to star the Gos, but he and director Peter Jackson had different visions of what his character was supposed to look like. Gosling showed up on set fat, so Jackson replaced him with Mark Wahlberg.
Charlize Theron
Charlize Theron is an exceptionally beautiful woman, but you'd be hard-pressed to find a single person who would call her Oscar-winning portrayal of serial killer Aileen Wuornos sexy. The Monster star not only let the make-up artists make her look old and haggard, but she gained 30 pounds of extra weight for the part.
Renee Zellweger
Throughout her career, Renee Zellweger has battled tabloid rumors dissecting her slender frame, so in a way, her work in the Bridget Jones films was kind of a "screw you" to the rumor mill. Zellweger had no problem plumping up to play Jones, adding a solid 25 pounds for the part.
Tom Hanks
Tom Hanks is one of the most beloved actors in the biz, most likely for his charming personality. But his dedication to the craft probably has something to do with it, too. Hanks definitely committed to his character's battle for survival in Cast Away, losing weight to reflect a realistic look at what would happen to a man left stranded on an uninhabited island.
50 Cent
Don't write 50 Cent off as just a blowhard tough guy rapper. 50 fell deep into his character for 2011's Things Fall Apart. Playing the part of a football player diagnosed with cancer, Cent dropped a whopping 50 pounds with an all liquid diet and three-hour treadmill stints for nine weeks. The result was almost too extreme to be believed.
Emile Hirsch
When a role of a lifetime calls for slow starvation, you're going to have to look pretty emaciated to pull it off. Emile Hirsch was up to the challenge when Sean Penn cast him in the real-life story Into the Wild. The actor dropped 30 pounds as shooting went on to dramatize what his real life counterpart went through.
Natalie Portman
The average person would probably call Natalie Portman skinny (and they'd be right), but even she had to shed some pounds to play a ballerina in Black Swan, which goes to show just how brutal ballet can be on the body. Portman certainly looked the part, and even went through a year of training to minimize the use of a stunt double. Now she has an Oscar for her efforts.
Steve Carell
Losing weight is one thing, but losing body hair for a movie is a whole other (and more painful) story. Steve Carell and director Judd Apatow wanted the waxing scene in 40 Year Old Virgin to involve as little "acting" as possible, so they went for the real thing. Those screams coming from Carell are far from fake because that's actually his own hair being ripped from his chest.
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