10 Movie Roles That Seriously Screwed Up Actors

Method acting isn’t an easy process at the best of times - just ask anyone who has endeavoured to hold a conversation with the veteran practitioner Daniel Day Lewis while he’s immersed in character. Not sure how you go about telling Lincoln which lens to face when he has no idea what a video camera is.

So, playing a real-life actor famous for blurring the lines between reality and performance is a particularly tall order, and doubly so for an actor who has struggled at times with their own mental health. But that’s exactly the big ask that Jim Carrey took on in his 1999 passion project Man on the Moon, an unconventional biopic of the infamously unconventional comedian and actor Andy Kaufman.

Carrey claims he felt compelled to channel the spirit of Kaufman, saying the iconic “anti-comedian” got into his mind and wouldn’t leave for years to come. During his time in the role Carrey got into a fight with a wrestler by becoming lost in kayfabe, resulting in a serious injury, spoke with Kaufman’s actual family as Andy, and sent an impersonator in his place when invited to the Playboy Mansion. Kaufman would be proud.