10 Overly Committed Actors Who Took Their Parts Way Too Seriously

4. Marlon Brando - The Men

Few actors in the history of cinema have earned themselves a reputation as a performer committed to their roles quite as much as Marlon Brando. A student of Stella Adler - the actress and acting teacher who broke with Lee Strasberg after studying directly with Stanislavski - Brando's commitment to the Method and imbuing his characters with a degree of realism has rightly led to him being among the most influential actors of all time. This commitment has been apparent from the very beginning of his career with his performance in Fred Zimmerman's 1950 movie The Men, in which he plays a young infantry lieutenant called Ken struggling to reintegrate into society after a serious injury, instantly heralding him as an acting talent to watch. Dealing with the difficult subject of paraplegics, The Men explores the consequences of war with tact and sensitivity and was particularly poignant on its release in light of the proximity to the end of the Second World War. It is Brando's strong central performance which carries it through, and he already demonstrated the lengths he was willing to go to in order to prepare for a role. To portray his paraplegic character with as much authenticity as possible, Brando spent weeks in a wheelchair at Birmingham Army Hospital, accompanying other real-life paraplegics on their daily activities. The result is a compassionate performance which hinted at the breadth and range of his talent that was to emerge in the years to come.