10 Movie Stars Who Overcame Huge Challenges For Their Roles And Achieved Glory

Making a movie is no easy job. It requires a lot of talent and dedication, especially from the actors. Intensive training, losing or gaining weight in a short amount of time, and learning new skills are among many things actors have to do to bring their characters to life. These movie stars who overcame huge challenges worked hard for their roles, and they were rewarded with glory.
So let's see what obstacles they have to face and how they defeat them. Here is a list of movie stars who overcame huge challenges and succeeded.

1. Charlize Theron - Tully

Source: Tully/ BRON Studios and co-producers

The role of a mother of 3 in Tully really took a toll on Charlize Theron. The actress had to gain 48 pounds for the movie, and her diet mostly consisted of unhealthy food and sugar. This bad diet led to Theron’s first depression in her life.
She realized that her 42 years old body wouldn’t lose weight as easily as when she was younger. It took the actress 1.5 years of hard work and healthy food to return to her normal shape.

2. Jamie Foxx - Ray

Source: Ray/ Universal Pictures and co-producers

Jamie Foxx played the role of the legendary singer and pianist Ray Charles in the biographical film Ray. To look more like Charles, Foxx lost 30 pounds and glued his eyelids together with makeup prosthetics for 14 hours a day.
The experience was very unpleasant, to say the least. Foxx had panic attacks for the few first days on the set and suffered a bad case of claustrophobia. In the end, he pulled through. Thanks to his dedication, Foxx got an Oscar for his brilliant performance.

3. Brendan Fraser - The Whale

Source: A24/ Courtesy of Everett Collection

Brendan Fraser’s character in The Whale was a man who weighed 600 pounds. On top of that, he was also suffering from depression and overeating. To bring his character to life, Brendan put on a suit and carried anywhere from 50 to 300 pounds of extra weight.
As you can imagine, it isn’t a good experience. The suit was so heavy that once it was removed, Brendan would feel dizzy and had to sit down. The actor even claimed that he developed muscles he didn’t know he had to wear the suit.

4. Gwendoline Christie - Game Of Thrones

Source: Game of Thrones/ Home Box Office and co-producers

Gwendoline Christie really gave her all for her role in the famous series Game Of Thrones. 6 weeks prior to the audition, the actress trained herself in kickboxing and yoga, and also changed her diet completely. She lost 20 pounds, but her workouts only became even more intense after she got the part.
However, Christie didn’t mind the training that much. What she was most upset about was her hair. To play Brienne, the actress had to cut her beautiful hair. The first time she saw herself in the mirror with her newly cut hair, she burst out crying and couldn’t stop for 2 hours.

5. Rachel McAdams - To the Wonder

Source: To the Wonder/ Redbud Pictures and co-producers

To have the chance to work with director Terrence Malick, Rachel McAdams lied to him about being okay working with animals. In reality, she was scared of the animals altogether and had a bad allergic to horse hair. During her time in the 2012 movie To the Wonder, the actress’s eyes swelled up and she could barely see anything.

6. Nicole Kidman - Moulin Rouge

Source: Moulin Rouge!/ Twentieth Century Fox and co-producers

Nicole Kidman wanted to have an 18-inch waist as Vivien Leigh had in Gone With the Wind, so she would tie her corset very tightly in Moulin Rouge! Turned out this was not a good decision. One time during the shooting, the costume designers tied it so tight that one of Kidman’s ribs broke.
On top of that, Kidman also had to overcome her fear of singing in front of a crowd in this movie. It was a new experience for her, and a quite nerve-wracking one too.

7. Zac Efron - Baywatch

Source: Baywatch/ Paramount Pictures and co-producers

Many viewers thirst over Zac Efron’s muscular body in Baywatch, but the actor himself is very against it. To achieve the powerful body with bulging veins in the movie, Efron had to push himself to the limit in an unhealthy way. He started his workout at 4 AM and would train for hours. His diet only consisted of protein and leafy greens.
After he finished this movie, Efron had depression, insomnia, and many other health problems. He admitted that he never wanted to go through all of that again and wouldn’t recommend the training to anybody.

8. Demi Moore - G.I. Jane

Source: G.I. Jane/ Caravan Pictures and co-producers

Demi Moore cramped the entire 17-week course of physical training into 2 weeks. She had blisters on her legs and threw up on the first day of training, but she pulled through. Moore tied off her rough transformation by shaving her head herself.

9. Jake Gyllenhaal - Everest

Source: Everest/ Universal Pictures and co-producers

The event in the movie took place at 28,000 feet above sea level where people don’t have enough oxygen to breathe. Jake Gyllenhaal and Josh Brolin decided to recreate a simulator to understand how it would feel to breathe in the air at that height. 3 days after they experienced the atmosphere, they developed severe depression.

10. Jennifer Aniston - Cake

Source: Cake / Cinelou Films and co-producers

Jennifer Aniston’s character in the 2014 movie Cake is a woman who suffered from chronic pain. To better understand her character, Aniston would wear a corset that would let her round her shoulders and make her walk with a straight back. The actress soon experienced real chronic pain after 5 weeks of wearing the corset. Despite all her suffering, she pulled through and nailed the role.
Those were some movie stars who overcame huge challenges and nailed their roles. Many other actors also had to learn tough skills to bring their characters to life, and their stories are also as inspirational as these guys. Check them out!