Intense method actor
Christian Bale has topped a
LOVEFILM poll of the most extreme movie roles in Hollywood for his preparation as the disturbed Trevor Reznik in
The Machinist. Bale dominated the poll with a whopping 49% of the vote and for good reason too. The actor took on a skeleton-esque form through a frankly unbelievable diet regime which saw him consume just 275 calories a day. I feel unhealthy if I've only managed half of my usual intake so how Bale stuck with this is incredible. The schedule saw him lose a jaw-dropping 28 kilograms, over a third of his weight to begin with to end up at 54 kilograms or 120 pounds in total. The fact that the actor was actually targeting 45 kg shows you how madly committed he really is. Or maybe committedly mad is a more suitable expression.
Robert De Niro came in as second with 11% for his preparation as Jake La Motta, which saw him box hours of rounds to get into the chiseled, lean shape of the boxing legend and then reverse the process by eating his way around Europe whilst production was halted. Yes production stopped short so that De Niro could become a bloater, adding sixty pounds to what was a super-impressive frame. The role won De Niro an Oscar but the toll of his preparation left him feeling depressed in the months that followed.
Daniel Day Lewis was fourth with 7% of the poll for his preparation as protagonist Christy Brown in the film
My Left Foot. He spoke in character at all times during the shoot whilst remaining in his character's wheelchair and insisting on being spoonfed by an understandably flabbergasted cast and crew. He also won an Oscar.
As did
Charlize Theron, the actress who placed third between these two method acting legends for her preparation as notorious serial killer Aileen Wuornos. She binged on food to qucikly gain thirty pounds in weight and made drastic modifications to her her hair and eyebrows to give her face a suitably rough and distant expression. The insatiably beautiful actress was barely recognisable in Patty Jenkin's film.
You can read the top ten below. Half of these stars won an Academy Award for their performances proving that such intense, hard work often does pay off. 1.Christian Bale The Machinist - 49% 2. Robert De Niro - Raging Bull (1980) - 11% 3. Charlize Theron - Monster (2003) - 9% 4. Daniel Day-Lewis - My Left Foot (1989) - 7% 5. Tom Hanks - Cast Away (2000) - 6% 6. Edward Norton - American History X (1998) - 5% 7. Dustin Hoffman - Rain Man (1988) - 4% 8. Demi Moore - G.I Jane (1996) - 3% 9. Tom Hardy - Bronson (2009) -2% 10. Hilary Swank - Million Dollar Baby (2004) - 1% Perhaps the most dedicated, extreme performance considering his short amount of screen time however is
Donnie Wahlberg who lost 43 pounds for his important but extremely brief role in
The Sixth Sense. As crazily inspirational as all this is I'm sure that hammy acting legend Laurence Olivier would have had only one piece of advice for these brave, brilliant performers - You should try acting, dear