10 Actors Who Made Insane Sacrifices For Movies (And Why)

7. Billy Bob Thornton Put Crushed Glass In His Shoes...In Order To Limp "Properly" - Sling Blade

The Sacrifice

Billy Bob Thornton gave the performance of his career (so far, anyway) as Karl Childers, the intellectually disabled protagonist of the Oscar-winning drama he both wrote and directed, Sling Blade.

But as if all that hard work wasn't enough, the notoriously eccentric Thornton enacted one particularly bizarre physical tic: he wore crushed glass in his shoes as he performed the role.

Why They Did It

Thornton took this dangerous step to force himself to perform Karl's memorable limp in a consistent way throughout the movie, rather than having to consciously affect it during production with his own effort.

The glass instead instantly changed his gait, and also made it more natural for Thornton to contort his face in the pained way that Karl does throughout the film - that wasn't so much acting as it was genuine anguish.

Given that Thornton already had plenty to think about with pulling triple duty on the hit drama, perhaps it was for the best to take as much thought out of the acting process as possible.

Then again, directing yourself in a movie while walking on crushed glass sounds like a major pain in the ass, too.

For his efforts, Thornton won the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar and received a nomination for Best Actor. Not bad at all.