12 Hollywood A-Listers Who Are Willing To Do Anything For A Role

Jimmy Henton
Nov 03, 2022
Nov 03, 2022

Everyone has their favorites when it comes to iconic movies, roles, and, more importantly, the actors who gave the character genuine faces. We feel that among the dozens of different interpretations of multiple personalities in Hollywood blockbusters, at least a handful should be left aside and never replicated.
We all know that acting is a just skill. And it's just that some artists go a little overboard sometimes. It's not just method acting; it's a distinct form of lunacy in and of itself. No, these actors believed that to play an iconic role, they had to learn some complex skill that they could easily mimic on television.
Today, we have compiled a list of 12 Hollywood A-listers who are willing to do anything for their roles. Let's imagine how these actors prepare for such roles in movies, it's no doubt that they will leave you in awe. Have you watched any of the films listed below? Do you think the actors did well in them?

#1 Alexander Skarsgård

Source: Piotr WYGODA / East News, © The Legend of Tarzan / Village Roadshow Pictures and co-producers

To get Tarzan's body, the actor had to work out frequently and stick to a strict diet that was divided into two parts. Alexander had to consume 7,000 calories per day for the first three months and he ate largely meat and potatoes.
The second stage was stricter and did not allow for rapid carbohydrates. Alexander was required to eat six meals per day. This drove him insane. “I would walk around and look at my watch constantly thinking when’s my next meal, that was the highlight of my day,” the actor said.
After 5 months, his trainer permitted him to slightly cheat with his meals. Alexander even cried with joy when he could finally eat anything he wanted.

#2 Amanda Brugel

Source: F Sadou / AdMedia / SIPA / East News, © The Handmaid's Tale / MGM Television and co-producers

The Handmaid's Tale actress stated that Rita was the most difficult character she has ever played. She had to make her role credible almost without using any dialogue.
The actress had to rely on her facial expressions and alter her walk, putting rocks in her left shoe. Perhaps this is what let her communicate her character's concealed agony.

#3 Anne Hathaway

Source: Invision / Invision / East News, © WeCrashed / Apple Studios and co-producers

Hathaway plays real-life businesswoman Rebekah Neumann in the miniseries WeCrashed. According to the script, her character was a vegan who only ate raw or very low-temperature cooked foods. She also practiced yoga.
To get into character, the actor adopted Rebekah's way of life. She became a raw vegan and attended daily yoga lessons. According to Hathaway, she became so immersed in the character that she mistook herself for a vegan. She needed a burger three weeks after the filming was completed.

#4 Brad Pitt

Source: Jordan Strauss / Invision / AP / East News, © Fury / Columbia Pictures and co-producers

Pitt had to go through a tough training camp to play an officer in the film Fury. The entire cast was supposed to take part, and despite being older than the other actors, Pitt never tried to dodge it.
“It was set up to break us down, to keep us cold, to keep us exhausted, to make us miserable, to keep us wet, to make us eat cold food. And if our stuff wasn’t together, we had to pay for it with physical forfeits. We were up at 5 in the morning, we were doing night watches on the hour,” the actor said.

#5 Bradley Cooper

Source: EVERETT COLLECTION / East News, © American Sniper / Warner Bros. and co-producers

For the film American Sniper, Bradley Cooper had to bulk up. And, unlike Matthew McConaughey, who liked the process of gaining weight, Cooper struggled.
“It was a real shock to my body. If it’s pizza and cake, that’s one thing. Putting 6,000 calories a day in your body gets old quickly,” the actor confessed. Cooper's chef prepared five meals every day for him, but he also needed to munch on energy snacks in between.

#6 Daniel Day-Lewis

Source: AF Archive / Graham Whitby Boot / Mary Evans Picture Library / East News, © In the Name of the Father / Universal Pictures and co-producers

The actor spent three days in a real jail to play the inmate in the drama In the Name of the Father. “I felt the need to do this,” Day-Lewis explained. He couldn't sleep at night in jail because someone would come and knock on the doors with tin cups every 10 minutes.
But that's not all. At the end of those three days, cops interviewed him for nine hours nonstop. We are impressed by Daniel Day-dedication Lewis's to his work.

#7 Halle Berry

Source: East News, © Jungle Fever / Universal Pictures and co-producers

Halle stopped taking showers and shaving her armpits to get into character for the film Jungle Fever. The actress admitted that she hadn't showered in two weeks and that her armpit hair was so long that she could braid it.
Her coworkers had to put up with her body odor, but as Berry put it, “Nobody said anything to me, but everybody sort of started to keep their distance.”

#8 Jessica Chastain

Source: Invision / Invision / East News, © The Eyes of Tammy Faye / Fox Searchlight Pictures and co-producers

Jessica Chastain never sang in front of cameras before playing the famed singer Tammy Faye in the film The Eyes of Tammy Faye. This is why she was so worried about taking on this assignment. “It’s a real nightmare for a shy person. But I had to do it,” the actress admitted. Tammy Faye performed 31 songs that Chastain learned.
Jessica also let cosmetics artists draw on her face with markers. Tammy Faye had permanent cosmetics put on her eyes and brows. They used markers instead of real eyeliner and lipstick to get the same effect.

#9 Matthew McConaughey

McConaughey is generally slender, but in the film Gold, he played an overweight role. Initially, producers planned to clothe him in a special fat suit. But Matthew realized he didn't need it.
“I ate and drank what I wanted for 6 months without thinking about any consequences whatsoever,” the actor revealed. Cheeseburgers were his favorite food, which he would get from fast-food restaurants or make at home. Of course, he immediately acquired weight. It was hard for Matthew to return to eating like a healthy person.

#10 Natalie Portman

Natalie Portman tells fans that her well-developed muscles in Thor: Love and Thunder are not the results of computer images. The actress began working out at a gym a few months before filming began, focusing on strength exercises she had never done before. Jogging and yoga had always been her favorite forms of exercise.
According to Portman, she had never wanted to gain weight, but she decided to do so for this part. It's important to note that the actress is vegan, but she gained muscle mass by eating a lot of plant-based proteins.

#11 Renée Zellweger

The actress had to prepare carefully for the role of Judy Garland. Although Zellweger had previously performed in the film Chicago, her voice was not as powerful as Judy's. As a result, the actress had to take voice lessons for a year to sing like Judy Garland in the film Judy.
Garland was known to have a slight curvature of the spine, which hampered her during her performances. This explains why Renée Zellweger did something strange before certain scenes. She attempted to move a piano before filming concert sequences to feel joint pain and get in the correct mood.

#12 Tom Hiddleston

Hiddleston's character runs a hotel in the TV show The Night Manager. The actor spent a night managing a real posh hotel to prepare for the job. “This work only seems glamorous. There was a wedding going on in the ballroom in the basement and there were people on the first floor complaining about the music, and the Night Manager and I had to keep both parties happy,” the actor remembered.
The show was shot in a real hotel, and Tom was occasionally mistaken for a genuine hotel manager. A couple of hotel customers even asked him for their room keys, which he gladly provided.

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