When commoners look at moviestars all they see is glamour and lots of money, but as they say the grass is always greener on the other side. While the actor’s life does come with perks like money and fame, there is also a dark side to it which probably goes unnoticed.
To get into the skin of their characters, some actors go that extra mile to make it more believable. In order to do so, they push themselves to such extreme limits that sometimes it takes more effort to actually come out of it. Some characters latch on to the actors so bad, that they deeply affect the actors and their normal lives.
From insane weight loss and gain, lifestyle changes and physical training to secluding themselves from the rest of the world are just a few of the ways these actors go to extreme lengths in order to get into character.
Here are 12 actors and their films that took a massive toll on their physical/mental health:
1. Ranveer Singh
Movie: Padmaavat & Lootera
Ranveer Singh is known to get into the deep end for almost every character that he plays. He recently revealed that to ace his role in Lootera and perform convincingly, he stapled the sides of his stomach. In conversation with film critic Anupama Chopra in a round table, she asked Ranveer about that scene where he was shot in the stomach in the film. He revealed that he was fairly new at that time and he was in a dilemma as he did not know how to emote pain. To project pain in a believable manner, he did what he had to do.
The actor said,"I didn’t know at that time when I was making that choice for Lootera. You operate from a place where you are not comfortable with your craft, a place of insecurity and nervousness and you tend to do a lot more to achieve a certain effect... sometimes to the degree of harming yourself. I wouldn’t do it now as I know that there is more efficient way of doing it. Back then, I am thinking to myself: ‘I have never been shot, now I am going to get shot. So how am I going to depict a real sort of pain on screen?"
He broke his shoulder while shooting for the fight sequences in Bajirao Mastani and for the role of Alauddin Khilji he got emotionally involved with the character. So much so, that he isolated himself and stayed locked inside his apartment to get into the skin of Khilji.
This prepping up affected him so much that his behaviour towards people took a hit. He then had to seek psychiatric help to come back to his normal self.
2. Rana Daggubati
Movie: Haathi Mere Saath (Yet to be released)
Rana Daggubati's upcoming trilingual, Haathi Mere Saathi, is all set to go on floors with shoots planned in Thailand and India. The actor will spend a fortnight with his co-stars — the elephants — to prepare for his role, reports Mumbai Mirror.
"Yes, I'll need to do more for this film. I'll be taking 15-20 days before the shoot to stay with the elephants in the jungle and get familiar with them before I start filming. At the same time, we are also doing a bunch of workshops because the story is inspired by two events, so we are trying to get as authentic as we can in the filming process,” Daggubati tells the publication.
2. Kate Winslet
Movie: The Reader (2008)
She rose to fame with Titanic and since there has been no looking back. With a lot of mega hits under her belt and becoming the youngest actress in the history to be nominated for six Academy Awards, Kate Winslet’s most difficult role so far has been that of a former Nazi concentration camp guard in 2008 film The Reader. According to her, this is one performance that took a toll on her health. She said that it took months for her to fully break free of the part leaving the character behind and escaping a serious car accident. Thankfully, Winslet has seemingly moved on and she continues to be one of the top actresses in Hollywood.
3. Heath Ledger
Movie: The Dark Night (2008)
This list would be incomplete without the iconic Joker aka Heath’s name on it. Playing the arch-nemesis of Batman was no easy feat for ledger. For this Christopher Nolan movie, the actor locked himself away in a London hotel room for a month, keeping a diary and experimenting with various voices and mannerisms until he came up with the final vision of the character. The result was obviously one of the most memorable villains of all time which also made him win the Best Supporting Actor Oscar in 2009. Tragically, he never got to see his work on the silver screen as he passed away from accidental prescription drug overdose one year before the release. According to a lot of claims, it was this role that drove him to his end.
4. Leonardo DiCaprio
Movie: The Revenant (2015)
The film that broke Leo’s long dry spell and finally made him earn the Oscar for Best Actor, wasn’t a bed of roses for the actor. Just like his character in the film, DiCaprio slept in animal carcasses, ate raw animal organs and suffered severe bouts of hypothermia in real life! Well, we can only say that it was a well-deserved win for sure.
5. Anushka Sharma
Movie: NH10 (2015)
She not only acted in the film but she also donned the producer’s hat. With this film, Anushka earned critical acclaim and many nominations for Best Actress in 2015. It wasn’t easy for her as she went through a roller coaster ride of emotions. Talking about the same she said, “I was in depression when I did the scene of being molested in NH10,” she had said. “Being punched, kicked in stomach and all that, I was just thinking how humans can be this way. We aren’t exposed to so much in life other than reading in newspaper. But to shoot such scenes are extremely traumatising.”
6. Natalie Portman
Movie: Black Swan (2010)
Ballet is probably one of the most difficult forms of dance. It takes years and years to learn the art of Ballet but Portman did not have the luxury of time in her hands. To learn the craft and get into the character Natalie Portman trained her ass off for eight hours a day for months. She lost 20 pounds and dislocated a rib! She managed to put a superb performance in the end which went on to earn her an Oscar. All’s well that ends well, right?
7. Anne Hathway
Movie: Les Miserables (2012)
With the word miserable in the movie title, it was obvious that the film wouldn’t be a light-hearted movie. The protagonist Anne Hathaway ate nothing but oatmeal paste for weeks to get into the character of Fatine! This along with the long weeks of intense filming led to Hathaway feeling deprived both mentally and physically.