Hollywood is packed to the brim with actors desperate to prove just how dedicated they are to their craft, which is why so many of them ultimately choose to go "full-on method" when it comes to certain roles. They want you to know how serious acting is, okay? So Christian Bale messes with his weight; Daniel Day-Lewis stays in character for months; Tom Hardy does a weird voice and goes a little bit more insane... Each to their own, we guess. And that's a notion - "each to their own" - that really resonants when you look at some of the truly strange ways in which some actors allowed themselves to get into character for famous films and TV shows. You have to ask: were a lot of these approaches really necessary, or were said actors just wasting time?
10. Robert De Niro Insisted On Wearing The Same Silk Undies That Capone Did - The Untouchables
Robert De Niro is often thought to be one of the great actors, and though in recent years he hasn't shown the same level of dedication as he once did, De Niro used to be renowned for his methodical approach to film roles. For Raging Bull, he piled on the muscle (and then the pounds); for Taxi Driver he spent weeks driving cabs; for The Untouchables, he... ...wore the same silk underwear as Al Capone? Uh, yep. De Niro appears in a minor role in The Untouchables, you'll remember, playing real-life crime boss Al Capone. He's great (and scary) in the part, which is something that can presumably be attributed to the fact that he insisted on wearing the same, silk-styled underwear during shooting that Al Capone did back in the day. Obviously said undies were never seen on-screen, which means that this little embellishment was for De Niro's sake. It was all very comfortable, we're sure.
Sam Hill is an ardent cinephile and has been writing about film professionally since 2008. He harbours a particular fondness for western and sci-fi movies.
