10 Actors Who Went Through Hell (For Films No-One Saw)

Jared Leto is no stranger to transforming himself for a role. To play a heroin addict in Requiem for a Dream, he lost 28 lbs and gave up sugar and sex. To portray an AIDS sufferer in Dallas Buyers Club, he lost 35 lbs.

However, Leto's most daunting physical change is when he piled on over 60 lbs to portray John Lennon's murderer, Mark Chapman, in the biographical drama, Chapter 27. He put on the weight so rapidly, Leto developed arrhythmia, back pain, and dangerously high cholesterol. Worse still, he gave himself gout that was so painful, he was confined to a wheelchair in-between scenes.

You might think, 'Well, at least he got to eat whatever he wanted for a few months." However, Leto said one meal that was crucial for getting fat quickly was consuming microwaved pints of chocolate ice-cream mixed with olive oil and soy sauce. I've never tasted that concoction but I'll imagine that it is beyond disgusting.

Sadly, Leto's commitment was for naught. Critics referred to Chapter 27 as boring, inept, and irredeemable. Worst still, the film only made a pathetic $200,000 at the box office.