3. Vincent D'Onofrio in Full Metal Jacket
The Metamorphosis: Put-upon Private Leonard "Gomer Pyle" Lawrence endures heaps of abuse for his weight and general ineptitude from his drill sergeant during basic training. Unlike the others on this list, D'Onofrio was explicitly required to go through his intense transformation. After all, Stanley Kubrick will brook no detail going overlooked. So D'Onofrio gained over 70 pounds, breaking the previous weight-gain record set by Robert De Niro in
Raging Bull.
The Damage: ''Women didn't look at me; most of the time I was looking at their backs as they were running away. People used to say things to me twice, because they thought I was stupid.'' Plus, the weight proved to be a hazard. Going through an obstacle course, D'Onofrio destroyed his knee.
He needed surgical reconstruction.
Was it Worth It? D'Onofrio is probably better known for this than anything he's done since (although how much of that is on him and how much of it is owed to the fact that he was acting opposite R. Lee Ermey in his own legendary performance is debatable). Since he eventually made himself look literally like a Norse god for
Adventures in Babysitting less than a year later, even the knee-tearing seems like an acceptable sacrifice.