In the movie industry, several actors have worked on several different projects, across several decades. But of all these performers, some have left a mark in the film industry, to an extent that they are even spoken about to this day. These acts may include winning one or multiple Oscars or a particular act, which made the actor and the movie stand out from the crowd. One such case scenario is when actors go to immeasurable lengths to do something so insane for a movie, that people start questioning their methods and their mental stability. Here is a list of actors who went to great lengths for a scene in a movie, forever immortalizing that scene in the history of the film-making profession.
Nicolas Cage
For the movie Birdy, Nicolas wanted to act his part out for the role of a battered-up US vet. For the role he had his 4-baby tooth removed without the use of an anesthetic. On being inquired about this absurd act, Nicolas said he wanted to feel a small part of the pain, that a vet would feel when he stepped on a mine. He claimed that he wanted to look like, he was hit by a bomb.
Tom Hanks
Back in the 90’s Tom Hanks, had grown in popularity because of the mind-boggling transformations he went through for his roles in movies. From adding 30 pounds for his role as a coach in 1992’s “A League of Their Own”, to losing 26 pounds beyond normal within a year for his role as a Lawyer in the movie “Philadelphia” suffering from AIDS. Hank in this era was at his prime, and wanted to be taken seriously as an actor, especially after his previous engagements in bubbly comedies of the 80s’.
Nicole Kidman
During a shoot for Moulin Rouge, Nicole Kidman had an incident that involved her falling from the stairs and breaking a rib. Post that incident Nicole on the sets particularly requested her corset to be laced as tight as humanly possible despite the existing injury. The reason she claims to have gone to such extreme measures was Vivien Leigh’s performance in “Gone with the Wind”.
Billy Bob Thornton
Billy Bob Thornton will always be remembered for the performance of a lifetime, that he gave in “Sling Blade”. Written and Directed by Thornton himself, he made a name for himself after portraying Karl Childers as the disabled protagonist of the Oscar-winning drama. For the role Thornton, put crushed glass in his shoes, to get the limping part right every time he shot for a scene. The idea of crushed glass in one’s shoes is guaranteed to get anyone’s attention off from the acting part to the pain one might have to bear if things were to go south. For his efforts, Thornton won the best-adapted screenplay award and received a nomination for the best actor.
Gary Oldman
While filming for his Oscar-winning performance as Winston Churchill in the biopic “Darkest Hour”, Gary ended up suffering serious nicotine poisoning. Gary got this poisoning after smoking up $20,000 worth of cigars over the course of 3 months, during the production of the movie. Despite a major Hollywood production house having the ability to create artificial cigars, it was Gary who committed himself to the role and wanted everything to be as real as possible. In addition to that, it was director Joe Wright who strongly felt Gary’s dedication to the role, and said: “You can’t have a Winston Churchill, without a cigar.”
Johnny Depp
For his role of Raoul Duke in “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas”, Johnny Depp probably went overboard on this one. Johnny Depp moved into the basement of the author, on whose novel the entire movie was based, Hunter S. Thompson for 4 months. Depp was quoted saying that he did not just want to observe Hunter, he wanted to steal his soul for the sake of the movie. To imbibe the author’s lifestyle, Johnny Depp even went to the extent of driving Hunter’s car across California and even borrow his clothes and possessions.
Robert De Niro
Robert De Niro and Martin Scorsese’s pair up in the Raging Bull was admirable. So, when the time came for ‘Cape Fear’, these two again paired up for a massive movie. For the movie Cape Fear, DeNiro paid his dentist a visit to grind his teeth down for $5000 and then another $20,000 to repair the damage made post the wrap-up of the shooting. He did this to physically prepare himself for the role of Max Cady, he even toned down to 4% body fat and got tattoos made of vegetable ink which lasted till the shooting got over. DeNiro got the best actor nomination for all of his troubles.
Tony Todd
In the movie Candyman, Tony Todd was seen on several occasions being covered with bees, while having to read out his line. Now many would assume that he was acting under some precautionary measure being taken by him and his team. But what people didn’t know, that during that time such measures were not very popular or proven to work well against bees. So, every time you would see bees coming out of Tony’s mouth, it was all shot in real. The only precaution that was taken, was that Tony was given a dental Dam, to make sure no bees end up down his throat. Oh, and yes, another insurance was that he would get paid $1000 every time a bee stings him. Yes, you got that right, this was the deal that Tony made before signing on for the role and by the end of the movie, ended up getting a fat bonus of $23,000, for he was stung 23 times, during the production of the movie.
Jackie Chan
The Asian stuntman/actor shot to fame, back in between the 1970s and 1990s when he was pulling off all major stunts by himself. He has claimed that he did this so that, he could stand apart from the crowd of cheap and young Bruce Lee knock-offs in the industry at that time of his life. Eventually, as he came of age Jackie calmed down a lot and after several requests from Hollywood directors agreed for his stunt doubles to fill in for his stunts.
Debbie Reynolds
For the movie “Singing in The Rain”, Debbie Reynolds probably has surpassed all of the previous actors, when it came to be the craziest of the lot. The shoot for the ‘Good Morning’ song in the movie entailed a 15-hour shoot, which Debbie completed successfully, only to be left with her feet bleeding out. On being enquired about the incident, Debbie claimed that she did not want to give Gene Kelly a chance to belittle her. Gene Kelly was Debbie’s director, co-star, and an egotistical douchebag. Debbie was not a trained dancer, which did not go well with Kelly, thus to prove Gene Kelly wrong and leave her mark in the industry, Debbie Reynolds danced off for 15 hours straight without taking a break.
