10 Actors Who Prepared Totally WRONG For A Role
6. Brian Cox Lost 45 Pounds & Dyed His Hair Red - Red Eye
The great Brian Cox was cast in Wes Craven's tightly wound 2005 thriller Red Eye after the filmmakers saw his terrific performance as CIA Station Chief Ward Abbott in The Bourne Supremacy during pre-production.
However, between being cast and turning up to shoot his supporting role in Craven's film as the father of protagonist Lisa Reisert (Rachel McAdams), Cox intentionally lost around 45 pounds after being diagnosed with diabetes, and had dyed his hair red to perform a play in Scotland.
It wasn't quite what Craven and co. were expecting when they hired Cox - they anticipated a hefty, white-haired man to portray McAdams' father, rather than the more slimmed-down, red-haired guy who showed up on set.
There wasn't anything to be done about Cox's weight, but the production had the actor's hair dyed black. It's far from a subtle dye job, and presumably aggressive enough to ensure there wasn't even the faintest trace of red left on his noggin. The movie's not called Red Head, after all (sorry).
At the time, Cox noted that even his own agent became concerned about how much the weight loss had changed his appearance, with the actor joking that he had made himself "unemployable."