Actors Who Took Extreme Measures to Win an Oscar

THE OSCARS

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By: Jagannath Malekarani Radhakrishnan

Here is the list of actors to took extreme measures to win an Oscar. From packing on pounds to shedding body weight, deglamorization and method acting, a slew of Hollywood heavyweights have become known for their intense commitments to creating memorable self-transforming characters.

This is not an exhaustive list, only mentions the top performance of internationally famous actors.

Hilary Swank in "Boys Don’t Cry"

Hilary Swank lived as a male for more than a month before cameras even started rolling for Boys Don't Cry. In the devastating 1999 drama, Swank played transgender teen Teena Brandon, who is brutally raped and murdered by male friends after they discover he is a trans man. To prepare for the role, the actress used method acting to the point that her neighbours thought she was a visiting male cousin named Billy. “I walked around trying to pass as a boy for five weeks before filming that movie,” says Swank, who strapped her chest down and adopted male mannerisms. “Seeing what worked and what didn’t work, and losing a bunch of body fat so that my face would be thinner." Swank, who went on to win best actress honors, said by the third week of filming she lost all femininity.

Daniel Day-Lewis in "My Left Foot"

Daniel Day-Lewis earned his reputation as one of Hollywood's most established method actors for his preparations as Christy Brown in My Left Foot. While filming the 1989 drama, the actor stayed in character as the writer with cerebral palsy; he never left his wheelchair, was lifted around the set and was spoon-fed by the crew. "I was 'in character' all the time," he has said. Before the film, he spent two months at a cerebral palsy clinic in Dublin. Day-Lewis won the best actor Oscar for My Left Foot.

Heath Ledger in "The Dark Knight"

Heath Ledger went to dark places to become the hauntingly deranged Joker for The Dark Knight. The actor, who won a posthumous Oscar for his portrayal as the iconic villain, was found dead in his apartment only months before the 2008 release of the Batman film. To prepare for the role of the onscreen sociopath, “He pretty well locked himself up in a hotel, in his apartment, for a month or so, to sort of galvanize the upcoming character in his own mind,” said his father, Kim Ledger. “That was typical of Heath on any movie. He would certainly immerse himself in the upcoming character. I think this was just a whole new level.” "It's definitely the most fun I've had, and the most freedom I had," Ledger said about his process in an interview with Empire magazine, in which he detailed his preparations.

Charlize Theron in "Monster"

Charlize Theron made herself nearly unrecognizable for Monster. In the 2003 true-crime drama, Theron gained 30 pounds to help morph into serial killer Aileen Wuornos. "I’ve tried very hard in my career to change and transform. But, I’ve never done anything like this," the actress said about playing Wuornos, a prostitute convicted of murdering six men. (She sat on death row for 12 years before being executed in 2002.) After stuffing her face with Krispy Kreme doughnuts and potato chips, Theron says relied on her makeup artist Toni G and writer-director Patty Jenkins to fill in the rest of the details for her transformation into Wuornos, taking into account things like the sun damage from being homeless for her blotchy skin. Theron also shaved her eyebrows and wore prosthetic teeth. Theron won the best actress Oscar for the role.

Jared Leto in "Dallas Buyers Club"

Jared Leto lost nearly 40 pounds and never broke character on set for his award-winning role in Dallas Buyers Club. In the 2013 biographical drama, Leto plays the HIV-positive transgender woman Rayon, alongside Matthew McConaughey. To drop the weight, Leto says he simply stopped eating — he weighed 114 pounds to get to his emaciated onscreen self.

Leto stayed in character throughout the 25-day shoot and "road-tested" Rayon in public, once during a trip to Whole Foods. Leto won for best supporting actor.

Matthew McConaughey in "Dallas Buyers Club"

Matthew McConaughey dropped 47 pounds for his award-winning role in Dallas Buyers Club, which earned him a best actor Oscar. In the 2013 biographical drama, McConaughey plays the late AIDS patient-turned-activist Ron Woodroof. For six months before and during filming, the actor says he holed up in his Texas home, away from sunlight and distractions, to prepare for the role, including reading Woodroof's diary from two years before he contracted HIV. Physically, the actor set out to lose seven pounds per week, eating mostly fish and vegetables, just not much of it. Once he hit 143 pounds, McConaughey, who kept a nutrition diary and did very little exercise, said he started to lose his eyesight. He ultimately passed his goal and hit a low of 135 pounds. At his skinniest, “I would do five push-ups and be sore. I would run 30 feet and my legs would lock up," he said. Still, the actor says he learned a lot through the journey, and how strong the human body actually is: "All the acuity, energy and power I lost from the neck down transferred to the neck up."

Leonardo DiCaprio in "The Revenant"

Leonardo DiCaprio, who has been nominated six times, finally won his first Oscar for his portrayal of Hugh Glass in The Revenant. DiCaprio is no stranger to method acting or physical tests of endurance. In the film, DiCaprio plays a 19th-century fur trapper who suffers a violent bear attack and is nearly left for dead. The actor calls the attack sequences "some of the more difficult things I've ever had to do in my career." He also, like his character, ate raw bison liver while shooting so audiences could see his "instinctive reaction."

The movie transformations mentioned above involved some of the most unusual, often life-threatening, tactics from the actors who were chasing Hollywood’s highest honor, the Academy Award.