10 Actors Who Are Willing to Do Anything to Give Justice to Their Roles

Hollywood is not always about the glitz and glamour, and acting can be a demanding career. Sometimes, actors undergo intense training or physical transformations for the sake of their craft. And here are some celebrities who went the extra mile to ensure they portrayed their roles perfectly.

1. Matt Damon in The Informant!

The Bourne Identity actor had to let go of his fit body and gain almost 30 lbs to play the role of biochemist Mark Whitacre. “It was very, very easy to gain weight. It was very, very fun,” Matt Damon admitted. “I just ate everything I could see.” And what he saw included lots of McDonald’s meals and junk food. “I wouldn’t do more than 30 [lb], though — that would start to hurt.”

2. Brie Larson in Room

When Brie Larson took on the role of a woman who was held as a prisoner inside a shed, she decided to put herself in her character’s shoes. She isolated herself for a month and dug deep to learn more about the trauma resulting from captivity.

She also got into her character’s mind and wrote 3 diaries as her at ages 10, 14, and 17. “It was a stream of consciousness a lot of the time. I’d get really into it and get stuck in a 10-year-old mind for hours at a time,” Larson shared. But it was all worth the effort, as her performance earned her the coveted Oscar award.

3. Tom Hardy in Bronson

Before filming the movie Bronson, Tom Hardy had to lose 27 lbs for a previous role. But when he agreed to be the lead actor for the biopic about the “most violent prisoner in Britain,” Hardy had to regain all the weight he had shed and more.

“I had to quickly put a lot of weight on my forearms, chest, and neck,” he explained. So he built muscle by doing bodyweight exercises, resistance training, and chugging some ice cream and sodas for good measure.

4. Mariah Carey in Precious

The notoriously high-maintenance diva has always looked fabulous and blinged up. But the image she maintained for years was stripped down to the bare minimum when she played the role of Mrs. Wess. To convince audiences that she was an empathetic woman helping a troubled teenager in the ‘80s, the production team gave her eyebags, a mustache, gray makeup, and even bound her breasts.

5. Dwayne Johnson in Black Adam

The Rock’s body has always been ripped, but the former wrestler had to put in more work for his superhero bod. In an Instagram post, he shared that they removed all the muscle padding and put in the real work.

He had a team of chefs and a conditioning coach who calculated the precise macronutrient count needed for his desired physique. Johnson also said that his transformation into Black Adam was “one of the most grueling, intense, demanding commitments of my entire career.”

6. Lupita Nyong’o in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

The Oscar winner’s role as Nakia in the Marvel movie involved some sequences filmed in an Atlantis-like setting. And Lupita Nyong’o gave her followers a glimpse of her intense preparation for the part by sharing some behind-the-scenes clips. Her training included completing a set of underwater drills, like crawling and walking under a pool. And as if that wasn’t challenging enough, she had to carry dumbbells with her.

7. Chris Hemsworth in Limitless

The actor’s latest project is not really a movie but rather a documentary about challenging the human mind and body to explore life and longevity. The actor admitted that his previous movie preparations — like getting fit and having abs — felt superficial compared to this one.

Hemsworth fasted for 4 days to test his limits, plunged into icy cold waters, dangled over a canyon, and “aged” himself. He wore an MIT-designed suit, which restricted his hearing, vision, and movement, thereby giving him a preview of how he would feel if he reached his eighties.

8. Michelle Williams in My Week with Marilyn

To embody an icon like Marilyn Monroe, Williams did her homework — she devoured autobiographies, letters, and listened to interviews. But to mimic Monroe’s trademark wiggle, Williams decided to tie a belt around her knees while practicing the famous strut.

9. Viola Davis in The Woman King

The How to Get Away With Murder actress had to go on a strict diet and undergo rigorous physical training to become the powerful General Nanisca. She was at high risk for diabetes, so she had to eat in small portions every 3 hours to store energy better. She also trained for at least 5 hours per day for 3 months. Her routine included running, martial arts, and strength building.

10. Mark Wahlberg in Father Stu

The actor is known for his early morning habit of completing a workout by 4:00 a.m. every day. But his followers saw a completely different Wahlberg when he transformed from a chiseled hunk to having a “dad bod.” As he explained, “I put on 30 pounds and went from being a guy who was in fighting shape, to a guy who was wheelchair-bound, suffering from a rare muscular degenerative disease.”

He consumed 11,000 calories per day, which is 4-5 times more than what is advised for the average person. He ate even when he was full, and his daily menu included dozens of eggs and bacon, baked potatoes, steak, 2 bowls of white rice, and a glass of olive oil. Wahlberg admitted that this unhealthy eating habit eventually took a toll on him.

Do you have other actors in mind that we can add to this list? Have you ever had to train hard or do something intense for your work as well?