10 Method Actors Who Went Unnecessarily Extreme For Movie Roles

1. Christian Bale - The Machinist

And coming in at number one is the most notorious of method actors, the one and only Christian Bale. In one of his most controversial films, "The Machinist," Bale plays a character named Trevor Reznik; a dangerously skinny, eccentric insomniac, who spends his days at a machine factory, and his nights sitting in a cafe, just wishing he could finally sleep. It is an eerie, haunting film, made all the more bizarre by Bale's appearance.

For this film, the 6-foot-tall actor dropped to 121 pounds in order to more accurately portray the character, and perhaps also to contribute to the film's overall unsettling qualities. And, if that wasn't enough, he then gained the weight back, and then some, to portray Batman in 2005's "Batman Begins." Then, he lost it for "Rescue Dawn," gained it for "The Dark Knight," and went back down to 145 pounds for "The Fighter."

As I mentioned earlier, I greatly admire an actor's devotion to his career, which in Bale's case has so far resulted in a very deserved Academy Award for "The Fighter." It's hard to say what all this weight loss and gain is doing to his health, though, especially in so short a span of time as Bale has allowed between films. Hopefully, he will soon take on a string of roles that will not require the ups-and-downs of weight losses and gains. Because, of course, we would like Christian Bale to be around as long as possible.

So that sums up my list of the 10 actors that went unnecessarily extreme for roles. Do you agree with my selections? Which actors would you have included on this list? Let me know in the comments below, and thanks for reading!