15 Times Actors Went Insanely Overboard With Method Acting That'll Make Your Jaw Drop

Actors have long been known to go to great lengths to embody the characters they play on screen or stage, from drastic weight loss to intense physical training. That being said, acting is hard, but bring the movie character to life is even harder. One defines good actors, and the other makes the all-time greats that we never forget. In an attempt to fully disappear inside a role, some uses a technique called “method acting”, in which actors live in their character’s life to get the most authentic experience. This involves immersing oneself in the character's emotions, behaviors, and mannerisms to an extreme degree.
In this article, we'll be taking a look at 15 instances where actors went insanely overboard with their method acting. From living in a wheelchair for months to refusing to shower for weeks, these performers fully committed to their roles, often leaving themselves physically and mentally exhausted.
While some of these stories might make you laugh, others will definitely blow your mind.

#1 Ashton Kutcher: hospitalized twice with pancreatitis

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In preparation to play Steve Jobs in Jobs, Ashton tried to follow Steve Jobs' fruitarian diet IRL. This obviously is not a wise decision as it results in Ashton's visiting the hospital not once, but twice. His wife, Mila Kunis was so upset: "He was so dumb. He...only ate grapes at one point...we ended up in the hospital twice. With pancreatitis! It was really dumb!"

#2 Lady Gaga: spoke in an Italian accent for nine months

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The Grammy-winning singer opened up about her experience while filming House of Gucci. “It is three years since I started working on it and I will be fully honest and transparent: I lived as her (Reggiani) for a year and a half," she told British Vogue in an interview. This caused some psychological difficulties and confusion when Gaga went on a walk and thought she was still on the movie set.

#3 Jared Leto: sent a dead pig to his coworkers

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Despite only being in the two-hour movie for only about 10 minutes, Jared’s adherence to his role is unbelievable. Yes, he did indeed send dead pigs to the castmates, he also sent Margot Robbie a live rat in a black box. He addressed himself as "Mistah J."

#4 Michael B. Jordan: isolated himself

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Besides taking part in weapon training, gun training, and a lot of mixed martial arts, Michael also spent a lot of time alone as his role, Erik [Killmonger] grew up in loneliness. “He didn't have a lot of people he could talk to about this place called Wakanda that didn't exist." This led him to undertake therapy after filming Black Panther.

#5 Daniel Day-Lewis: going around in a wheelchair and broke two ribs

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He also demanded that the crew spoon-feed him while filming My Left Foot to better simulate his character Christy Brown, an Irish artist who had cerebral palsy.

#6 Robert Pattinson: throw up, lick mud, piss himself, put stones in his shoes, and get drunk

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“Lazy” and “underprepared” can never be said of Robert Pattinson. While answering questions about his role in The Lighthouse, he explained: “Because you’re playing a mad person, it means you can sort of be mad the whole time. You can literally just be sitting on the floor growling and licking up puddles of mud”.

#7 Jamie Dornan straight-up stalked a woman

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To experience the feeling of pursuing someone for his role as a serial killer in The Fall, Jamie literally followed a woman off the train one day! That’s a bit too far, some might say.

#8 Halle Berry: 10 days without showering

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Immersing herself in the life of a crack addict in Jungle Fever, Halle didn’t shower for 10 days straight. Sam Jackson can confirm!

#9 Jamie Foxx: glued his eyes shut for 14 hours per day

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As his character Charles was blinded, Jamie took a step further to glue his eyes shut rather than just simply closing his eyes. The experience caused Jamie to have panic attacks and difficulties on set, as his colleague kept forgetting that he couldn't see a thing.

#10 Leonardo DiCaprio: ate raw bison meat (he is an avowed vegetarian!)

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He also slept in a dead animal’s carcass and combated freezing temperatures while portraying Hugh Glass in The Revenant. His dedication paid off with the Best Actor Award for this movie.

#11 Gary Oldman: nicotine poisoning

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A total chameleon! “It’s Winston Churchill,” Gary said. “You can’t have Winston Churchill without a cigar”. And yes after smoking $20,000 worth of Churchill's favorite cigars while filming Darkest Hour, he gave himself nicotine poisoning and subsequently developed stomach issues.

#12 Nicolas Cage: pulled out four teeth without anesthesia (Ouch!)

In addition, he wrapped a bandage around his head for a duration of four weeks while filming, which resulted in him developing acne and ingrown hairs. The man’s commitment to the craft is indisputable!

#13Dustin Hoffman: slapped Meryl Streep

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He kept taunting Meryl Streep about her recently lost boyfriend John Cazale on the set of Kramer V. Kramer. Meryl, who was devastated by her boyfriend’s cancer and his death, told Dustin that if he wanted to use vulnerabilities to get the best performance, he should use them on himself.

#14Kate Winslet: lived in a cottage, alone

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"It was so isolated, cold, and rattly that when there was a big storm the waves would hit the windows of the house and the power would go down”, she said about the experience, “And I would lie there thinking, 'Kate what are you doing?' Just go to the hotel with everybody else".

#15 Forest Whitaker: his family to stop speaking to him

Forest Whitaker stayed in character as Idi Amin in The Last King of Scotland, even off-set to the point his family got mad, and primarily ate a diet of mashed bananas and beans.

#16 Will Smith: fell in love with his co-star

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Finally, we have Will Smith who admitted his amorous connection with Stockard Channing after filming “Six Degrees of Separation”. “So the movie was over and I went home, and I was dying to see Stockard. I was like, ‘Oh no! What have I done?’ That was my last experience with method acting," he said.