10 Method Actors Who Went Unnecessarily Extreme For Movie Roles

2. Joaquin Phoenix - I'm Still Here

Everyone probably remembers the headlines back in 2010 in relation to Joaquin Phoenix, which went something along the lines of the following: "Academy-Award nominated actor decides to retire at the peak of his career in order to...become a rap star?" People may have immediately suspected that Joaquin was playing a prank, most likely in order to spread the word on his new film, a "documentary" directed by Casey Affleck called "I'm Still Here." But Joaquin was so devoted to the lie that he went on talk shows, talked to celebrities, and allowed the news to take the story completely out of control.

It's hard to believe that everyone who Joaquin interacts with in this movie did not immediately know that he was playing a joke, due to the excessive silliness of the entire thing. Why would a young, talented, and respected actor suddenly give up the potential to have a long and fruitful career in movies, just to see if he could possibly make it as a rap star? And not only is this hard to believe, but the film itself is also hard to watch. Within the course of "I'm Still Here," the viewer is, unfortunately, subjected to a series of potentially uncomfortable situations: the exposure of male genitalia, a very disheveled, overweight, and whiny Joaquin Phoenix, and, at several points, some truly awful rapping, so bad that words cannot do it justice.

And not only did Joaquin alter his physical appearance, but he also put his actual acting career on hiatus, due to his determination to stay in character. Afterwards, it may have hurt his chances at people taking him seriously. Luckily for Joaquin, he recently bounced back and was nominated for the film "The Master," directed by Paul Thomas Anderson.