10 Actors Who Went To Absurd Lengths For Recent Movies

Not all roles are equal when it comes to the always vital element of preparation.

Some require an actor to dive into somewhat disturbing territory or explore an energy/attitude that is pretty far removed from themselves beforehand and during a shoot, whereas others can require an actor to push themselves way past their limits in the pursuit of big-screen brilliance.

In the case of the following movie stars and unquestionably committed thespians, though, there's an argument to be made that some of them perhaps took things a little too far when trying to prepare themselves for a recent cinematic outing.

And even the actors to come that didn't completely destroy their bodies or find themselves folding bizarre new habits into their daily lives for a part still wound up diving into some frankly absurd training or scenarios in order to deliver the movie goods in the end.

So, from making a point out of embracing their inner Doctor Dolittle during production, to taking strange inspiration from their fellow acting sensations when it came time to seriously pile on the pounds, these are some of the insane lengths various performers went to for flicks that just recently landed in cinemas and the streaming world.

The moment it became clear that Sigourney Weaver was set to return in the follow-up to James Cameron's record-breaking Avatar, fans quickly found themselves wondering how in the hell the mind behind Pandora would inject the star back into The Way of Water action; Dr. Grace Augustine did very much bite the dust in that first outing after all.

Yet, as the star herself was told by Cameron over a decade ago, "no one ever dies in science fiction." But rather than simply reviving Grace for this 2022 sequel, the director decided to introduce a new character by the name of Kiri, a 14-year-old who was the daughter of Grace's Na'vi avatar.

Instead of having a youngster do the motion capture and have Weaver just vocally play the part, though, Cameron felt his star was more than up for the challenge of fully diving into the teen role, telling her she had always been "14 at heart."

Determined to give her all to the part of Jake and Neytiri's adopted daughter, Weaver proceeded to very much go back to high school, sitting in on classes so she could figure out the pitch of Kiri's voice.

And not stopping there, the Alien icon also embraced everything from the breath-holding training to learning parkour in order to authentically keep up with her younger co-stars.