10 Actors Who Paid Terrible Prices For Movie Roles
3. Adrien Brody Took Method Acting A Little Too Far For The Pianist
There’s method acting and then there’s immersing yourself so much in your character that you actually put your health and sanity at risk like Adrien Brody did for his role in the 2002 biographical drama The Pianist as Polish-Jewish pianist Władysław Szpilman who survived the Nazi-occupied Warsaw ghetto.
To truly capture Szpilman’s despair and loneliness Brody cut himself off from his real life giving up his phone, car and apartment and even ending his relationship with his then girlfriend. The already thin actor also shed 30 pounds in six weeks to mimic the emaciated physique of Władysław Szpilman who lived off what little food he could scavenge from the husk of the bombarded city.
Throwing himself into his character so wholeheartedly left Brody both mentally and physically exhausted and sank him into a deep depression that took a year to recover from. His commitment didn’t go unrecognised, however, and Brody went on to win the Academy Award for Best Actor for his haunting performance.