9 Actors Who Treat Their Roles As More Than Just Reading Off a Script

We love actors for their appearances, talent, and charisma but we rarely ask ourselves the question of why it is them that became the most successful out of hundreds of other talented and charming people. The thing is, they are ready to go to great lengths to portray a character, instead of following the general methods and rules.

We at Bright Side have always respected these actors, but now we have an even better understanding of why they are some of the best.

Johnny Depp — Captain Jack Sparrow

Depp invented the special way Jack walked for a practical reason. The thing is, you have to walk like this on a ship or your will constantly fall because of the rocking. So, Jack (as an experienced seaman) can’t give up on this habit even when he’s not on the ship. It was Depp’s idea, among many others. But at first, Disney thought that his acting was too eccentric and they almost made the biggest mistake — not wanting to hire him.

Alan Rickman — Hans Gruber

Even though his role in Die Hard was his debut, he was really professional. It was Alan’s idea to dress the character in an expensive suit, instead of a military uniform and include a scene where he pretends to be a hostage. At first, his ideas were rejected, but then the script was rewritten. Rickman wasn’t just the thug the creators wanted to make him, but a charismatic and cunning person. Maybe, this is one of the reasons why this 30-year-old film is still popular today.

Jennifer Aniston — Justine

To show the character of the unhappy Justine in The Good Girl, the actress underwent a physical transformation. Her stiffness was easy to see and feel: she took small steps, her face was sad, and her arms would just hang there... To achieve this effect, she had to walk with weights attached to her wrists for about a month. The film didn’t become very popular, but Jennifer Aniston proved she was able to pull these roles off.

Jake Gyllenhaal — Louis Bloom and detective Loki

Jake is one of the boldest actors of his generation — he often takes on very complex and unusual roles. In Nightcrawler, he thought his character was similar to a coyote and he showed it on the screen. Gyllenhaal created a character that didn’t know what empathy was and all he cared about was earning something. When he saw a chance to earn money, his eyes would glow and he’d stop blinking. The actor had this idea and it frightened viewers: he looks like a real psychopath in these scenes.

It is interesting that the same year, Gyllenhaal portrayed an opposite character — detective Loki in Prisoners. His character cracked all of his previous cases but when he came to a dead-end in a search, he got really nervous. And Jake used his expressive eyes again — he blinked really often.

Anthony Hopkins — Hannibal Lecter

Anthony’s character was the most impressive one in The Silence of the Lambs even though he was only on screen for around 20 minutes. His hypnotic look was amazing. Some people think he didn’t blink at all in the film but this is not true. He did blink, but very rarely and slowly, and it looked as if he did it only when he wanted to. Maybe, this is where Gyllenhaal found the inspiration for Nightcrawler.

Sandra Bullock — Annie

For her role in Speed, Sandra didn’t just learn to drive. She got a real license that allowed her to drive a bus and she passed the exam on her first attempt. The film was really successful and made the actress popular.

Henry Cavill — Geralt of Riva

After Henry got the part of Geralt, a lot of fans of the games and books were really disappointed. But he was okay with that. The actor himself is a big fan of the Witcher universe and he really felt the character. Cavill not only changed his own voice while trying to sound like the actor from the video games and but he also made other changes that surprised the crew.

“Before takes, I would look at myself and say, ‘We need more dirt on me.’ They’d come up to me with this tiny little — it’s like a pair of tights rolled up into a ball, with some dust in, and they’d sort of pat it on me. And I’d say, ‘Yeah, guys, that’s not enough.’ So I’d go stand out in the rain. Sometimes I’d roll around in puddles.” Also, Cavill read Reddit comments and took the arguments he thought were valid into consideration.

Danny DeVito — Lorax

Some actors can voice their characters in different languages. This is a marketing move because people want to hear the original voices of the actors, but they don’t know the language. Danny DeVito voiced the Lorax not only in English, but also in Russian, Spanish, Italian, and German even though he doesn’t speak any of these languages. He thought that this would be a very good challenge for him.

Viggo Mortensen — Aragorn

As it turns out, Viggo Mortensen also reads books and respects them. This is why he decided to not appear in The Hobbit trilogy at all. He said, “You do know, don’t you, that Aragorn isn’t in The Hobbit? That there is a 60-year gap between the books?”

Do you think that it’s worth it to give the roles all you’ve got or is it okay to just do everything in the standard way?