Playing the lead in a major Hollywood film is a great job that demands true talent. And some actors are so dedicated to their position that they genuinely become their characters and go to extraordinary lengths to prepare to play them. And while we may be horrified by the extreme steps some of these performers take, we can't deny that their sacrifice generally pays off in the form of a great film that will be remembered for decades.
We are captivated by actors willing to give their all to make a masterpiece. Here are ten superstars that took on challenging roles and delivered remarkable performances.
1. Keanu Reeves
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Following the 1997 film The Devil's Advocate, Reeves was meant to play a homeless guy in a film that was never released. And, to prepare for it, the actor lived on the streets. "The first night I lay down was scary because I could hear people crying in their sleep," he ultimately said about this one-of-a-kind encounter.
2. Anne Hathaway
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Anne Hathaway played Fantine, an impoverished factory worker, in the 2012 musical picture Les Misérables. The actress had to reduce 24 pounds to prepare for the part. She achieved this by adhering to a rigorous diet that included only two thin slices of oatmeal paste daily. "It was an escape from reality," she conceded, "but I guess that's who Fantine is anyhow."
3. Leonardo DiCaprio
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Leonardo DiCaprio ate a raw bison liver on-screen in one of the 2015 film The Revenant sequences. The actor stated that the prop department created a fake bison liver out of jelly, but he decided to eat a real one instead because he was concerned that the fake one would not seem authentic.
4. Natalie Portman
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Natalie Portman's Oscar for Best Actress requires great effort and hard work. The actress said that she shed roughly 20 pounds for her part as the protagonist in the 2010 thriller Black Swan. "I had never had that much training — to be doing 5 to 8 hours a day of [it] was truly a hardship," she explained.
5. Brad Pitt
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The 1999 film Fight Club had several confrontations and brawling sequences, as the title suggests. To look the part, Brad Pitt went to the dentist and had parts of his front teeth chipped away to look the part. However, his spokesperson revealed that the actor would get his teeth fixed after filming.
6. Ashton Kutcher
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In the 2013 biopic Jobs, Kutcher played Steve Jobs. And, because the Apple co-founder was known to experiment with a rigorous diet that stressed eating primarily fruit at times, the actor decided to do it for real. "So I just started drinking carrot juice constantly all day," he explained.
7. Adrien Brody
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Adrien Brody, at the age of 29, became the youngest actor ever to win Best Actor at the Academy Awards. His victory, however, was not handed to him on a silver platter. "I gave up my flat, sold my vehicle, deactivated the phones, and I left" to prepare for the 2002 film The Pianist, for which he got the Oscar. I traveled to Europe with two suitcases and my piano."
8. Nicole Kidman
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Nicole Kidman's character in the 2012 thriller The Paperboy had to pee on Zac Efron's leg to relieve his discomfort after his character got stung by a jellyfish on the beach. And the actress agreed to do it for real once the director suggested it. "The peeing thing, I didn't think was that odd since I was in character," she later stated. I just went for it and didn't second-guess myself."
9. Jamie Foxx
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Ray, a 2004 biography, earned
Jamie Foxx an Academy Award for Best Actor for his depiction of Ray Charles. Given that the guitarist was deafeningly deafeningly deafeningly deafeningly deafeningly deafeningly deafeningly deafeningly deafeningly deafeningly deafen, "Imagine having your eyes sealed shut for 14 hours a day," the actor said of the ordeal. That is your prison sentence."
10. Angelina Jolie
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The Hollywood star has appeared in various action films, including Salt (2010). Her stunt trainer also said that the actress conducts 99 percent of her own stunts and occasionally utilizes a stunt duplicate. "We got her studying a combination of Muay Thai and Krav Magha for 2-hour sessions, 3 or 4 times a week," the trainer said of the film.