Times Where Actors Were So Into Acting That They Went Loco

When you’re an actor, you’re the blank canvas to the smudge, stroke, and shade of your director. You must allow yourself to be reduced to nothing, because when you appear onscreen, you are merely the physical embodiment of your character’s thoughts and emotions. The best actors and actresses know this by heart. Lights, camera, apply it! Winning that Academy Award is only incidental. They subjected themselves to the same hardships their characters endured. That’s why they’re barely acting onscreen. Those are real emotions. It’s easy to forget it’s only acting when they channel it so convincingly. So it’s no wonder why these celebrities nearly went loco from their film roles. Some had to go into rehab, others needed time off acting, and others went full bananas. Yikes.

Suicide Squad‘s Jared Leto

Wonder how Jared Leto took method acting to a new level? He stayed in character even on breaks. No good mornings, no replies, no courtesies. He would pull nasty pranks, such as sending Margot Robbie a rat, and the rest of the cast a dead pig.

We can definitely imagine the Joker pulling off something equal to or worse than that, so we applaud Leto for his enthusiasm. Even we are wondering how the movie turned to be a “disappointing flop”. After all, the 30 Seconds to Mars lead is smashing the screen and also the chart’s top hits.

Fury’s Shia LaBeouf

Shia LaBeouf is known for eccentric behavior on and off the set, and the filming of Fury is no exception. Several of his co-stars complained of his sharply offensive smell. That’s because he didn’t bathe for 30 days straight during filming. Just the thought of it makes us itch!

He also cut his right cheek himself and openly refused to put a balm or gauze over it. He even pulled one of his teeth out. It’s a good thing he didn’t suffer from any infections during filming. Without having taken a bath, it’s easy for microbes to infect the wound. Talk about dedication!

The Machinist‘s Christian Bale

If you ever see this extraordinarily dark movie, you will be disgusted at how emaciated Bale is. It’s very disconcerting to have bones and a patch of skin carry a body to the pier. And his spine in this film — you could count the bones of it without palpation.

He lost 60 pounds for the movie. He would eat no more than a can of tuna and an apple while staying awake for almost two weeks. So no, those eye bags weren’t just the effect of make-up and lighting. That was purely physical and emotional exhaustion. Known for his commitment to bodily transformation, he also packed on the pounds for Vice, and got shredded for American Psycho.

Les Misérables‘ Anne Hathaway

Anne Hathaway landed an Oscar for her performance singing and suffering as Fantine, but she was unhappy with it. Would you be if you lost 25 pounds for a gold-plated statuette? It’s not even pure gold, and its components are mostly tin!

She had shaved her locks and was personally undergoing a rough patch. When she went on stage to accept the award she admitted feeling uncomfortable because she didn’t know “who she was”. We guess acting requires some R&R every once in a while too.

The Dark Knight‘s Heath Ledger

You know Sir Michael Caine, right? He’s one of the most accomplished actors out there. Well, he was so afraid of his co-star, Heath Ledger, that he forgot his lines. Imagine scaring the lights out of a professional actor because you were so in tune with a psychopath.

Heath had gone on self-isolation for a month, and he had starved himself for the role. If there’s anything we should know by know, it’s that nutrition can drastically affect mood and sleep regularity. So that triggered his depression and caused insomnia. We’re sad to see this iconic actor pass away, but he made some tremendous movies in his time.

Ghost Rider‘s Nicolas Cage

Ever wonder who did his horrendous make-up when the Ghost Rider appeared? Well, it was the film’s lead actor Nicolas Cage himself. He had gone into character by wearing black contact lenses and painting his face to look like Baron Samedi.

He also had different rocks and amulets in his jean pockets. That’s how he had been driven to summon voodoo death spirits after taking on a deal with the Devil. Talk about getting into character! No wonder he did such an unforgettably searing job.

The Doors‘ Val Kilmer

We’re dazed by how Kilmer tried to get Jim Morrison’s mannerisms to point. He and his band would practice backstage, going on a couple of rounds to play “LA Woman”. Apparently, to get the part, he sent casting agents a tape and asked them to discern which song was him and which was Jim (truth is, Val sang them all!).

It’s not like he was a die-hard fan of the band, but if you were it’d be easy to memorize 50 of their songs in one take. Because that’s exactly what Kilmer did. Unfortunately only a third of those songs made it to the movie. At least they were featured. That’s what counts!

It‘s Bill Skarsgård

Their family has such remarkable acting chops, so it’s no wonder that Bill was able to channel Pennywise menacingly well. Remember that drool of saliva pooling by the corner of his mouth, and his languid stare at the kid? He read King’s novels and constructed his image of Pennywise accordingly.

It was only after the full make-up test that he was able to come up with Pennywise’s high-pitched nasal voice. As for that lip thing, that’s an individual quirk Bill had since childhood. It looks like he was born to play the role and what a terrifying role he played indeed.

My Week With Marilyn‘s Michelle Williams

When asked, Michelle Williams claims that the more she spends time with her, the more she feels closer to Marilyn Monroe. She had heavily relied on two memoirs of Marilyn and had relied on her vulnerable side to channel the classic Hollywood starlet’s persona. She also maintained a wide range of vocal cadences.

Monroe, although exerting every bit of effort, would be easily disturbed by minute stimuli. Every little thing would send her concentration flying. Williams gave color to this intricacy. She also looks remarkably similar to Marilyn, if we do say so ourselves!

Boys Don’t Cry‘s Hilary Swank

Brandon Teena was an American trans man in an age where public perceptions of gender identities and sexual orientations were either-or. Any shade beyond that and you would be subjected to hate and ridicule. Swank recounted the brave story Teena didn’t live to tell.

To hide her breasts, she wound them tightly with bandages and slept in them. She went by a male name and would only respond when called to by such. She stuffed her pants and lost weight to make her face more angular. She had felt like she had lost every ounce of her femininity.

My Left Foot‘s Daniel Day-Lewis

We can’t imagine why anyone would need a stunt double for this movie. Extraordinary actor Daniel Day-Lewis portrayed a handicapped quadriplegic person, but he had ended up breaking his ribs and being spoon-fed by the crew because of the disability he portrayed.

The real-life Christy Brown grew up to become a painter, author, and poet. Day-Lewis similarly won an Oscar for acting with such grit. Would you employ the same method as he had? We admire his acting in the movie and he truly deserved the accolades for his vexing performance.

The Reader‘s Kate Winslet

If you’ve watched the movie you might commiserate with Hanna Schmitz. Winslet had to be careful to shed off the costume and emotions laden for characters, especially when portraying Schmitz and Wheeler of Revolutionary Road. She says it had been difficult for her because there was nothing she could relate to with Hanna.

After reading the book, she cautions the audience that “you don’t have to forgive it, you don’t have to sympathize with it. You just have to understand why those things happen to that person”. And that has given an added complexity for the character.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest‘s Sydney Lassick

Lassick had gotten increasingly maladaptive during the shooting of this film in a psychiatric ward. He had gotten erratic from the emotional strain of being housed with other mental health clients. In the last scene, he had become so overwhelmed that he was removed from the set.

In case you watched the movie, you’ll remember that infamous scene was between Nicholson and Sampson. At least this seminal film managed to go down in history, as it won all “big five” Academy Awards. No wonder artists tend to romanticize depravity.

Ray‘s Jamie Foxx

Well-lauded and deserving of a standing ovation, we would have never thought that singer and actor Jamie Foxx would be able to embody Ray Charles so well. He even got the performance tics of a soul singer down to a T.

He wore the prosthetic over his eyelids for nearly half a day to simulate blindness, and would walk around the set assisted by the crew. It’s a plus that Foxx is a singer. This role was not an easy task to undertake, but he had pulled it off so effortlessly. We wouldn’t imagine anyone else playing Ray Charles except Jamie. Give this man an Oscar! (Oh wait, they did!)

I, Tonya‘s Margot Robbie

Imagine having no background on ice skating, but upon taking a role, you’d be training nonstop for about half a day, five days a week for nearly half a year. Even if you were doing pilates and yoga, this kind of training would require unprecedented balance and coordination.

Since Robbie and Tonya are alike in dedication, it was easy for the actress to channel the discontentment and shame onscreen for wanting to land the triple axle, but failing to do so. It’s beautiful to see actors embodying their true characters and much so when they look like them.

I’m Still Here‘s Joaquin Phoenix

If anyone mentions Joaquin Phoenix, you’d imagine a scraggly-bearded man with deep-set blue-green eyes. This mockumentary featured him transitioning into a hip-hop artist. He had gone on to Letterman’s set as his fictional character self and managed to dupe everyone.

We love Phoenix, but we would prefer to have him stay as a straight actor for the rest of his career. This movie is engaging because of its comedic twist, but if it were true, we would have no choice but to respect the career shift.

The Fall‘s Jamie Dornan

The Fall is a British crime drama TV series. Jamie Dornan plays Paul Spector, who is a serial killer. In an interview he admitted that something actually happened to his psyche when he grew the beard and got a haircut.

“It’s disturbing”. Is this why he found it easier to play Mr. Grey in his subsequent project, Fifty Shades? We applaud his great deal of self-control for being able to deliver the performance despite what he said it did to his emotional well-being.

A Clockwork Orange‘s Malcom McDowell

Ever wonder how Malcolm was able to pull off this immensely demanding (not to mention disturbing) role so well? He was given a wide latitude to perform improvs. Try watching the trailer and you’d be disconcerted with the emotional turmoil the character undergoes.

The actor experienced seizures at night and had to undergo therapy. He also experienced temporary blindness from having his eye scratched by those famous eye clamps. He had to be medicated to keep the symptoms from getting worse. We think that his performance in A Clockwork Orange was astounding but it’s horrifying to hear what he had gone through.

The Revenant‘s Leonardo DiCaprio

Leonardo DiCaprio keeps his taut skin fresh and glowing due to his vegan diet. But for this role, he consumed raw meat and slept in animal carcasses. No wonder he won the Academy Award this time, and not a moment too soon.

We would have been burnt out by the dedication he had put in over the years, but he had honed his method acting further. Wouldn’t you want to exact justice if you were left for good after having been mauled by a bear? That would be enough to build momentum at the very least.

Texas Chainsaw Massacre‘s Marilyn Burns

Those worry lines would have been etched permanently on her skin had it not been for the cuts in between. Speaking of cuts, director Tobe Hooper intentionally cut the actress’ finger, because the fake knife containing the tube of blood malfunctioned.

As for the vicious beating, the director had shouted at the actor playing the deranged killer Leatherface to beat her viciously over and over again until the latter resorted to the desired degree of brutality. Burns consented to it but by the eighth take she passed out. Talk about living in a real-life horror movie!

Pirates Of The Caribbean‘s Johnny Depp

Depp got his inspiration for the legendary Captain Jack Sparrow from guitarist Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones. He never wanted to break concentration in between sets. Unapologetic. Languid. British, with a cigarette in hand and coming off with an air of femininity.

Well, if we were being paid millions of dollars to be a pirate while channeling a rockstar, we would do the same too. It was not, at all, what Disney had imagined him to be, but he has made the character iconic. We would not have it any other way.

The Pianist‘s Adrien Brody

Ever played Chopin pieces? To get into character, Brody dedicated hours each day to play several of them. To channel the emptiness of a Jewish survivor of the Holocaust in Poland, he broke up with his long-term girlfriend, sold his car, and moved out of his apartment.

By the end of the film, he was mourning. He had lost nearly 30 pounds and was surviving on barely any food for months. He says that he had experienced sadness and loss but he had never experienced desperation that came with hunger until he played Władysław Szpilman. He truly embodied his character’s pain.

Jungle Fever‘s Halle Berry

Halle Berry admits to not having taken a shower for eight weeks to properly embody her character who was a crackhead. But she never resorted to taking drugs. Do you think the crew were disgusted by her? Not really, she admits that some parts at least got washed.

She wanted to take up the role to switch up the roles she had been typified for. She did not want to play the gorgeous Bond girl, at least for then. This goes to show how Halle can play diverse roles from a Bond Girl to playing a crackhead. She wins the title of being one of the best actors of our time.

Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas‘ Johnny Depp

Depp had befriended oddball writer Hunter S. Thompson and had lived with the writer for months. The whole film was about Thompson while he was a gonzo journalist en route to Vegas. He had taken illicit drugs to get into the role and instead of being chastised, was even supported by the crew.

After filming, Depp was unable to rid himself of Thompson’s tics. In an interview, he describes the latter as “a sickness… I can’t shake it”. The movie was far more toned in all its psychedelia, then what Thompson can document and recount. But we’re not complaining. We love how it looks like we took magic mushrooms while watching this kaleidoscope of events unravel.

Jobs‘ Ashton Kutcher

Ever wonder why protein was so important? Let Ashton Kutcher tell you precisely why. He had gone on an all-fruit diet like Steve Jobs and then he ended up in the hospital two days after for nutritional inadequacies. Apart from that the actor dissected the “nuances of his behavior”.

He studied the entrepreneurs Jobs had admired and met the people he had worked with. He also read the books Steve read. But that didn’t mean Ashton had no reservations. He simply seized the opportunity to take on something he found scary.

The Blair Witch Project‘s Heather Donahue

Imagine having your go-to director lead you into the middle of the woods without telling you what would happen there. No direction or guidance whatsoever. Who wouldn’t be antsy and kept on the edge if upon retiring you would be disturbed by crew?

The actors themselves worked on their cameras, and the crew only used GPS to locate them. They’d leave behind their footage in certain marked locations. She also had to pretend she was dead long after the film had been released. Her parents must have thought she had resurrected after appearing on their front porch.

One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest‘s Danny DeVito

It’s not like living in a mental asylum is necessarily going to be all bad, right? You’re really just cohabiting with clients, and that’s what the crew did when they earned the part. Talk about living like your character. They actually did this. Crazy!

DeVito regressed to his toddler years by speaking to an imaginary friend during production. Since the cast had gotten accustomed to the emotional strain of being in-housed, the crew silently filmed them without their knowledge, capturing performances that are absolutely spellbinding.

Halloween‘s Kyle Richards

You’d think that Halloween is one of the best events within the year. Not so for this nine-year-old actress. She didn’t know what she was in for, and her parents were to blame. She admits that she had slept with her mom until she was 15 because she had been terrified after filming.

But she eventually managed to reach a point where she’d outgrown that fear. She found the reprise of her role in Halloween Kills “a little scary, but exciting”. Popcorn, anyone? We’re a sucker for a good horror flick and we prefer the original rendition as opposed to the new version of Halloween.

Black Swan‘s Natalie Portman

Although Portman had a ballet background prior to beginning her acting career, it had been a long time since she last did a pirouette. She claims about her grueling dance routine while filming Black Swan, “There were some nights that I thought I literally was going to die”.

She had understood that dancers were constantly dancing through an injury, a sprained ankle, a twisted neck, a broken nail or something. And that part of what makes it beautiful and graceful is masking the pain. Portman reportedly lost 10 kilograms for the role and she’s already slim as is!

All Things Fall Apart‘s 50 Cent

The movies goes like this: a college running back is diagnosed with a spinal tumor and struggles to finish his last year as a champ. The rapper based the protagonist on a childhood friend who passed away due to cancer. He subjected himself to a full liquid diet.

That means purely ingesting water, juice, milk or other liquids. Curtis ’50 Cent’ Jackson also ran on a treadmill at least three hours a day. No wonder he was sickly thin in the movie. His dedication to pay tribute to his friend who passed away is certainly unsurpassed!

13 Hours‘ John Krasinski

Krasinski admits that he was over his head when he agreed to play a military contractor. He put in long hours to get in shape. One regular minute is nothing compared to one minute of going on planks, and this actor was going on several minutes at a time!

He was taught how to handle guns, maneuver through rooms with and without lights. Because let’s face it, looking sleek in commando uniform takes work. They had real Navy SEALs to consult with. Every single detail that could be incorporated in the movie was drawn from them.

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo‘s Rooney Mara

If you’ve ever seen Rooney Mara’s interviews, you’d perceive her as a shy, awkward wallflower. She’s a natural brunette with dark-colored eyes that remind you of cocoa by the fireplace. But in this film, you’d likely stay clear of her.

She stares unflinchingly as the gum smacks across her teeth. When she dressed as a tomboy, she found herself liberated from the catcalls and public stares. We loved her hair in this film; imagine having hair sleeked up to that height. Kudos to the hairdressers on set.

Birdy‘s Nicolas Cage

This anti-Hollywood role appealed to Cage so much that he was willing to do the role for a quarter of a million dollars, when he would normally demand four million in the ’90s. Unafraid of “dark material”, he had some of his teeth extracted.

Makes you wonder if he’s wearing prosthetics now. He also mummified himself by wearing the bandage over his head during and in between filming. When that had been taken off, he had acne all over his face and ingrown hair.

The Shining‘s Shelley Duvall

She wasn’t really acting. This was a personal horror story for her. This level of ruthlessness to capture horror on an actress’ face would have given anyone post-traumatic stress disorder. The baseball bat scene required more than a hundred takes. She spent the whole day screaming! Imagine all the hard work she had to put in for that one moment, let alone the entire picture.

She was famously bullied by director Stanley Kubrick. He had repeatedly told the crew not to “sympathize with Shelley”. In order to browbeat her, she was told that her artistic suggestions were worthless. No wonder there was a sheer sense of helplessness in her acting.

Good Time‘s Robert Pattinson

Becoming world-famous is both a good and a bad thing. It’s a good thing because it’s the peak achievement of your goal, but it’s bad in that it may never be surpassed by subsequent film enterprises. Pattinson threw himself into this crime thriller by shedding every remote feature of Edward Cullen.

He cut off his hair and relied largely on improvisations during filming. He had been worried he’d be recognized but people hardly questioned it, because they probably “just didn’t care”. Can we just say that we loved him in Twilight too?

Monster‘s Charlize Theron

This 5’10” goddess gained weight in the course of three months and put on prosthetics to take up the physique of real-life serial killer Aileen Wuornos. No dyes. Her eyebrows were shaved and her hair had been thinned and fried repeatedly.

To give off the look that her skin was rough and textured, she had layers of tattoo ink placed on her skin. The end result appeared literally nothing like the actress herself. Can you name another actress who can act convincingly well and maintain that unrecognizable façade?

Taxi Driver & Raging Bull‘s Robert De Niro

Yes, he’s nearly unrecognizable, but it isn’t because of make-up or prosthetics. It’s really just time itself. Robert De Niro had been in his 30s when he filmed these movies. But he was a rebel to the core in terms of his process.

For Taxi Driver he would drive around New York City after having gotten his illegal cabbie license. In Raging Bull, he and the real-life Jake La Motta would go within the ring and take jabs at each other. Guess who’d win. De Niro! He actually broke the boxer’s ribs and knocked out some of his teeth.

In The Heart Of The Sea‘s Chris Hemsworth

Hemsworth had to shed of nearly 33 pounds for this role. It was that insane. Every day they would weigh themselves feeling like they were part of a weight loss reality show. And we thought that sunburnt figure of him was merely a CGI!

Because there are finite water resources in the film, the character was lean and had minimal muscle content. The actor also took up sailing to prepare. This is a radically different body than we’re used to seeing Chris Hemsworth with.

Maidstone‘s Rip Torn

That’s one twisted face. It could possibly have been because of the moment when the movie director requested everyone to perform an assassination attempt on his character, and this actor threw himself into the role with hammer in hand. Deathly blows, anyone?

The director, thankfully, survived. But only after the crew tore them apart. The actor claims he “popped him” and that he was accused of hitting Norman Mailer with a hammer. It was the other way around really; Norman had bit Rip Torn.

Who Framed Roger Rabbit‘s Bob Hoskins

Before CGI and green-suited men, actors and actresses had to pretend they were working on set with animated characters. Hoskins did a superb job interacting with them. But he was driven to the brink through all that colored animation in a brick-and-mortar world.

He had suffered from visual hallucinations even after filming. “The voice of the rabbit was there just behind the camera all the time…If you do that for eight months it becomes hard to get rid of”. Even his daughter had noticed!

G.I. Jane‘s Demi Moore

Moore would run through Central Park with her guards. She would start her Navy SEAL workout at 4 am. This was a combination of cardio, martial arts, and strength. We’re looking at her routine and our muscles are already cramping.

Can you do a one-armed push-up? Demi certainly had to, and it was caught onscreen. Her trainer told her it has to come from the glutes, the abs, and the big toe, opposite her supporting arm. Care to try this support-system move?

Dallas Buyers Club‘s Matthew McConaughey

The Texan swashbuckler took on a markedly different role than his usual type, playing an AIDS patient, and it was through him that we saw how debilitating its secondary infections are. In order to survive, his character broke the law and became a drug dealer.

He lost nearly 47 pounds for the role. He would chew on ice to keep him hydrated and to temporarily satiate his hunger pangs for the shoot. His max count of push-ups is five and Peter run is 30 feet. Any more beyond that and he’d writhe from cramps.

Joker‘s Joaquin Phoenix

What is it with losing weight being correlated with sanity? Once again, this actor chose to shed off dozens of pounds to get into the role of a depressed and mentally ill client. He purposely gave himself time to rehearse Joker’s “pitiful” laugh.

Remember that scene where he was ran over by a car and his body slams against the windshield? Well, that truly was him! No body stunt doubles whatsoever. He was filmed running through New York City streets and had jumped unto the cab after crumpling to the unforgiving asphalt.

The Royal Tenenbaums‘ Gene Hackman

The Academy Award-winning actor had refused to take on this Wes Anderson role several times. But his agent had persuaded him otherwise. The script had been written for him “against his wishes”. So why had he refused it? There was no money!

There were so many stars who had wanted nearly the same amount of pay. And had producers conceded, there would be no funding for the movie. Nonetheless, the movie was a success owing to the grizzly bear attributes Gene brought to the screen as the dad.

Killing Zac Efron‘s Zac Efron

No typos there. Killing Zac Efron was the actor’s own survival reality TV show. He had contracted an illness in Papua New Guinea and had been suffering from weakness, so much so that he was chartered a flight to Australia for confinement.

Ever wondered what condition he had actually been afflicted with? Sources say it was likely typhoid, and that’s largely foodborne. He was able to recover from whatever infection he had and made it in time to California for the 25th of December.

Psycho‘s Janet Leigh

She was never the same after Psycho. After all, would you be if you were bathing and someone stabbed you to death? It’s one of the most private moments anyone could enjoy and to associate it with a gruesome death is traumatizing.

There were 20 takes of the legendary shower scene shot over a week. Janet Leigh had stopped taking showers and would only take baths. She would lock herself in the bathroom, leave the curtains open, and finish her business facing the door.

Hairspray‘s John Travolta

John Travolta had thought long and hard before taking up size XXXL, and he decided to take Edna up. And while the actor has had prior dancing scenes in Pulp Fiction (not to mention Saturday Night Fever!), having to balance the act with 30-75 fat suits was challenging!

You wouldn’t be able to rely on muscle memory to be able to slide your way through the floor. He also had to wear heels. Raise, kick and split! He had to act the part as an effeminate jolly suburban housewife, and we think he aced it.

Terminator Salvation‘s Christian Bale

Actor Christian Bale has a well-known reputation for having a temper on set. He had acted like a punk. He went on a unreserved tirade at the director of photography Shane Hurlbut while he was in character as John Connor.

Foul-mouthed and entitled — that’s what everybody had thought when they heard the tape. But Bale insists that it was resolved the same day, and he had even publicly admitted his fault and apologized for it. He admits that his enthusiasm can go awry.

Possession‘s Isabelle Adjani

Beyond the realm of human desire is a darkness. And it had permeated the reality of beloved and celebrated French actress Isabelle Adjani long after this horrifying movie was released. For her gripping performance, Adjani won her first César Award, France’s parallel to the Oscars.

Every single character in the film loses their minds. But amongst the actors it was Adjani that had over-acted so exquisitely. This was an expose of human grief and abandonment. Basically, despite the accolades she received in Possession‘s wake, Adjani spent her recompense for therapy.

On Her Majesty’s Secret Service‘s George Lazenby

Here’s a tidbit only the most devoted of Bond fans would have known before: Australian actor George Lazenby assumed the Bond role after Sean Connery. All actors have played the role at least twice except for this actor. But it wasn’t without reason.

The director had wanted him to perform the role with a certain air of isolation. George had been an inexperienced actor and it showed. Moreover, being the careless spirit that he was, he would race his motorcycle to the set. After he was determined to separate himself from the Bond image that he grew his hair.

Django Unchained‘s Leonardo DiCaprio

Remember that scene where he wipes his bloodied palm over Kerry Washington’s face? Kerry had been utterly horrified! For a brief second everyone in the shot froze and shifted out of character. Just a few seconds prior, DiCaprio had slammed his palm over a crystal cordial glass on the dining room table.

Two inches of glass wedged into your skin and tissue, and yet you refuse to break character. DiCaprio ought to have won that Academy Award for this stunt. Rather unsurprisingly, the devoted actor would require stitches once cameras stopped rolling.

Aguirre, The Wrath Of God‘s Klaus Kinski

We daresay Kinski had been cray cray prior to the movie, and that his co-stars went crazy because of him and not necessarily because of the conditions of the film itself. The actor had a “reputation for poisoning the atmosphere on every film set”. Still doubtful?

Kinski could be enraged by a lukewarm cup of coffee or a misinterpretation of the script. Care to cast the limelight away from him and he would throw a fit! The director, Werner Herzog, had called him a monster and that he had to “think of new ways of domesticating the beast”.

The Hunger Games‘ Jennifer Lawrence

The reason why The Hunger Games was awesome was that it featured violence in a fictional environment. People die all the time and we’re okay with that, but just onscreen. Unfortunately, Lawrence almost lost her life due to a mechanical glitch.

It all began when Lawrence ran into a tunnel when the fog machine malfunctioned. She was heaving and struggling to breathe in a room she couldn’t maneuver well through. Luckily, the rescue crew responded within a couple of minutes. O2 STAT!