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10 Movie Roles That Mentally Traumatized The Actors

Movie Roles Traumatized Actors:

Being famous and getting paid in millions can often come at a great cost. An actor’s life is far different from ours. We aren’t referring to their mansions, private jet, and 5-star hotel stays but to the efforts, they put in their work. They do not have a regular 9-5 job. Spending more than 12 hours on the set and staying away from home for months can take a toll on them. But here, we aren’t referring to these regular schedules as well. This list encapsulates the names that undertook shocking measures for a role, leaving themselves in mental agony. They pushed all the walls and went beyond boundaries to play these challenging characters. In the end, all the hard work and pain paid off in applause and critical acclamation but also left the actors broken for a long time. Find out the 10 movie roles that mentally traumatized the actors.

 1. Anne Hathaway in Les Misérables

Best Movies of Anne Hathaway

Food is the source of warmth and happiness! At least, my mood can travel from chirpy to b*tchy when I am hungry. Coming to Anne Hathaway, she had to devote more than other actors to fit in her character in Les Miserables and we are not just talking about the haircut. To begin with, the actress reportedly cried after chopping off her hair for her role. She played Fantine, a righteous prostitute who cut her hair to save her child and herself. Anne also had to rely on nothing but Lettuce and oatmeal paste to lose weight. According to sources, she dived so deep in her role that it took weeks to pull herself back together.

 2. Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight

Movie Roles Traumatized Actors
Movie Roles Traumatized Actors

The late Heath Ledger gave us the Joker that we never imagined in our wildest dreams. He got under the skin of the Clown Prince of Crime and left big shoes to be filled. But portraying the dark and chilly Joker wasn’t an easy task even for the talented Heath. To get in the psyche of the insane villain, he locked himself up in a room for months. Completely isolated and cut off from the world, Heath dived into studying clowns and some of the craziest characters. This left him trapped in a disturbing mind for months. Heath found it very hard to escape Joker’s soul even after the filming of The Dark Knight was done.

 3. Shelley Duvall in The Shining

Shelley Duvall was more afraid of the director Stanley Kubrick than her character was of Jack. Kubrick forced her to give hundreds of takes and terrified her to a dangerous extent. The whole experience scarred her for life and compelled her to seek a therapist.

 4. Vera Farmiga in The Conjuring

Whatever you read at this point is based on true events as claimed by the actors. The Conjuring, one of the most chilling horror films was inspired from a true story. But the cast of the movie ended up having a separate horror story of their own. After Vera  Farmiga finalized the deal with James Warren and disconnected the call, she spotted three claw marks on the screen of her laptop. Whether you call it a coincidence or not, is your call. But, after the shoot was over, the actress noticed the same claw marks as scratches on one of her thighs. Well, that didn’t deter her from returning for the sequel.

 5. Janet Leigh in Psycho

The classic horror Psycho still continues to be an unnerving and chilling thriller. It not only scarred the audience but also affected the actress Janet Leigh. The popular and the most frightening scene where her character was stabbed in the shower had traumatized Janet in reality. According to sources, she stopped taken showers and only took baths with curtains undrawn since then.

 6. JoBeth Williams in Poltergeist

Movie Roles Traumatized Actors
Movie Roles Traumatized Actors

The human skeletons that surrounded JoBeth in Poltergeist were not manmade props. The actress had no idea that she was swimming along with real human skeletons until the shot was taken. She claimed that later that day she reached home to find her all the frames on her wall crooked.

 7. Patrick Wilson in The Conjuring 2

It wasn’t just Vera but even Patrick experienced eerie presence while shooting The Conjuring 2. The actor was never a believer of supernatural existence until his own experiences forced him to think otherwise. He recalled hearing creepy childish laughter at his house one night during the production days.

 8. Leonardo DiCaprio in The Revenant

Leonardo proved that he was a legend in Hollywood long before this movie with Titanic, Inception, Wolf of Wall Street, etc. But for The Revenant, he pushed mountains with every inch of energy and dedication he had. In order to completely drown himself in his wild character,  Leonardo lived in the woods for some time and fed on raw bison. But the term ‘limit’ doesn’t exist in his dictionary, so he went on to sleep in animal carcasses and literally dived into the freezing lake.

 9. Mia Farrow in Rosemary’s Baby

Some directors adopt authenticity over props and digital effects. Director Roman Polanski was one of them who didn’t see the line between the on-screen and off-screen plot. He compelled Mia Farrow to eat raw meat for a scene to get genuine reaction. For Mia, even eating cooked meat was a torture since she was a vegetarian.

 10. Adrien Brody in The Pianist

Adrien sacrificed a lot, quite literally, to get into character’s shoes. He was playing a man who lost everything during the Holocaust. It’s not an exaggeration since Adrien did sell off his apartment, car and also ended relationship with his girlfriend to live in isolation for months. It helped him reflect his loneliness and the destitute state. All this paid off well in the form of an Academy Award. And quite weirdly and ironically, he shocked the presenter of his award, Halle Berry by kissing her in excitement. Well, you could have had a real girlfriend to kiss if you hadn’t broken up with her.

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