12 Actors Who Immersed Themselves Too Far In Movie Scenes
8. Bob Hoskins - Who Framed Roger Rabbit
Who Framed Roger Rabbit is set in a world where humans co-exist with animated characters called "Toons". Because the lead actor, Bob Hoskins, spent most of his time pretending he was talking to a cartoon bunny, you'd assume it was a pretty easy job.
On the contrary, Hoskins stated Who Framed Roger Rabbit was the hardest project he ever worked on (Well, until Super Mario Bros. but let's not dwell on that dark time.) He said the difficulty was, "If you're playing to a character there... who's not there, your eyes automatically open up and you see that on camera". To get around this, Hoskins didn't imagine he was talking to a cartoon rabbit, he hallucinated it! Hoskins taught himself how to see this fictional characters by studying his daughter, Rosa, while she played with her imaginary friends.
This technique allowed Hoskins to give a terrific performance but it also took a toll on his mental health. After working 16-hour days for half a year, he started to hallucinate cartoon rabbits and weasels jumping out of the walls. The experience left him so exhausted, he didn't take any acting work for a year.