6.Isolation
Heath Ledger obviously decided to overshadow Christian Bale as Batman, when he casted in Christopher Nolan‘s 2008 Batman sequel “The Dark Knight” as the “Joker”. In order to prepare for the disturbing portrayal of The Joker, Ledger, locked himself away from people, in a hotel room for six weeks prior to filming. The isolation payed off, since Heath Ledger did outstanding job as The Joker and was awarded with Academy award for supporting role, unfortunately Ledger died of an accidental drug overdose before the film was released. There are also rumors that playing such a dark character has destroyed him mentally.
7. Learning an African language
Forest Whitaker played the Ugandan Dictator, Idi Amin in the movie The Last King of Scotland. To prepare for his role as Idi Amin, he put on nearly 50 pounds of fat. But that was not the only thing he did, to bring more authenticity to the role, Whitaker learned Swahili so that he could ad-lib dialogue with the Ugandan actors and extras working on the film.
8. Cerebral Palsy
Daniel Day Lewis is one of the most talented and dedicated actors of all time. During the filming of “My Left Foot” the story about a man born with cerebral palsy, Lewis was very insistent to stay in character during the entire process of filming. He broke two ribs during filming from assuming the hunched-over position in his wheelchair for weeks during the filming. He would also refuse to come out of character. On visits to the set canteen, other people would have to help him with food. On one visit from his English agent, Day-Lewis again refused to come out of character as Christy Brown, and his frustrated agent took off.
9. Sacrificing everything
Adrien Brody was so dedicated to his part as Wladyslaw Szpilman in The Pianist, that he consciously let the character to affect his private life. Brody’s character was a Jewish Holocaust survivor who lost all he had to the Nazis. So to prepare for the role he had to learn what it was like to lose everything, so he did. He sold his car, his phone, his apartment, and his luxurious lifestyle. On top of all, Brody broke up with his long-term girlfriend so that his act of crying on screen would be realistic. All of these sacrifices will win him an Academy Award, yet we are not sure that the dumped girlfriend took him back, so it’s kind of those win-lose situations.
10.Drove Passengers Around New York
Robert De Niro is popular for going in extremes, when it comes to preparing for a movie role. To prepare for the mentally challenged, Travis in the movie Taxi Driver, De Niro got a cab’s driver license and drove passengers around New York. He did this for weeks on a 12 hour shifts. He also did his research on mental illness.