10 Ridiculous Ways Actors Got Into Character For Oscar Nominated Roles

1. Adrien Brody Dumped His Girlfriend - The Pianist

Imagine, for a moment, that you're Adrien Brody's girlfriend. It's 2001. He comes to you one day and explains that he's just been cast as the lead in the new Roman Polanski film. Overwhelmed by the news, you congratulate him on his success. But then you notice that there's something wrong. He's looking at you with a curious expression stuck on his face. "It's a film about the holocaust," he says. "I think we need to end this relationship." The most ridiculous thing is that some version of this conversation took place in real life, because Adrien Brody really did dump his girlfriend before he started work on The Pianist (he also gave up his car and his apartment and totally withdrew from society). His thinking, one supposes, was that placing himself in a self-imposed misery would help him to better tap into the role of the titular pianist - and to an extent it worked. Still, couldn't he have just told his girlfriend he was just, like, going to away for a while? Did the poor girl really need to be dumped? Doesn't a full-on break up seem a bit... well, ridiculous? Like this article? Agree or disagree that these were ridiculous things to do for the sake of acting? Let us know all your thoughts on the matter in the comments section below.