Most Intense Method Actor Performances In Movie History

Heath Ledger played the Joker in Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Knight".The Dark KnightThis is not method acting because Ledger did not stay in character as some mistakenly reported.Ledger stayed in character.He talked and joked about his daughter between takes. This makes his performance stand out.The unique preparation required stands out..

To become the clown prince of crime, Ledger locked himself in a hotel room for about a month. He worked on the distinct voice, laugh, slouch, and movements. Ledger kept a Joker diary with acting notes, ideas, and images. A section listed things the Joker might find funny, letting Ledger jump into different parts of the character's mind with a page flip. No actor trace exists in the performance; this is amazing.

This performance would launch an amazing new chapter in an actor's career.

Daniel Day-Lewis returned to film at Martin Scorsese's request to play William "Bill the Butcher" Cutting after a long break. Day-Lewis lived a simple life as a cobbler in Florence, Italy, for years. To prepare, Day-Lewis learned from W. Head and Co. butchers in Peckham Rye, who flew from the United Kingdom for a few weeks. Day-Lewis also became an expert marksman with knives and meat cleavers.

During filming, he only answered to Bill or the Butcher, as is tradition. He reportedly spent all his off time glaring and threatening his on-screen opponent, Amsterdam Vallon (Leonardo DiCaprio).

He stayed authentic so much that he refused winter jackets when temperatures dropped below freezing because the materials did not exist then. He would playEminem's musicHe worked between takes to get himself fired up. Daniel Day Lewis is therealSlim Shady.

Robert De Niro studied with legendary teachers who brought method acting to the mainstream. He worked hard to play the iconic Travis Bickle in Martin Scorsese'sTaxi Driver.

Travis Bickle has great dialogue about not sleeping in the film. So, he works extra shifts and long hours. De Niro became an unhinged, overworked, insomniac taxi driver.andprepping forTaxi Driver, which meant studying people with mental illness. He trained, took the test, and got his cabbie license. De Niro then worked overtime during his 12-hour shifts as a cabbie by actuallydriving people around NYC. Imagine hopping in a cab with De Niro at the wheel.

During filming, he stayed in character so much he tweaked the script and ad-libbed many lines, including a famous line from cinema history, "You talking to me?"

For his work in Roman Polanski'sThe Pianist, Adrien Brodyat age 29He became the youngest actor to win a Best Actor Academy Award. To prepare for the role, he practiced the piano four hours daily until he mastered Chopin.He spent four hours daily mastering Chopin.To adopt the mindset of a Holocaust survivor, a man who lost everything, he cut "comfortable living" from his life. He quit his apartment, sold his car, cut off his phones, sold everything except two bags of possessions, and left for Europe. He broke up with his long-term girlfriend.his long-term girlfriendHe did this to feel the pain of loss.

During filming, Brody crashed on a diet, losing 30 pounds in five weeks. He dropped to 130 lbs. (He is Six Foot Five!). He did this to feel the emptiness of starvation, staying in character daily while watching Holocaust memoirs.

Brody took just over six months to fully recover, both physically and mentally, from the event.

To play Jake LaMotta in Martin Scorsese'sRaging Bull, Robert De Niro began research months before shooting. The main obstacle was getting Scorsese to agree to direct. People saw it as just another boxing movie, or worse, just another biopic, featuring an unpleasant main character. Still, De Niro insisted.De Niro insistedand finally got the film made. While in the role, De Niro controlled the scriptwriting, often rewriting much of his dialogue because he knew exactly how Jake LaMotta spoke.

He also trained as a middleweight boxer, preparing to block, punch, and move like LaMotta. De Niro studied and interviewed almost all of LaMotta's friends and family. He even helped with makeup and wardrobe design. De Niro became LaMotta, then shaped the whole film around his new persona.

De Niro gainedat least sixty poundsin weeks to play the older, worn-out boxer.

To play the adopted white Mohican named Hawkeye,Daniel Day-Lewislived bythe way of the forest. He learned to track and skin animals, build canoes, reload and rebuild a 12-pound flint lock rifle while running. He also learned to fight with fire and tomahawks.

During production, things became difficult for the actor. He insisted on carrying his gun everywhere, including his own Christmas dinner. The movie became a part of him. Afterward, he told director Michael Mann he suffered from hallucinations and claustrophobia.

Daniel Day-Lewis is the first name that comes to mind for method acting and earned it. For the role of Christy Brown, a writer and painter with cerebral palsy, Day-Lewis spent eight weeks at a clinic in Dublin, Ireland. He learned to speak and move like Brown. He also learned to write and paint using only his left foot for months after.

During production ofMy Left FootDay-Lewis refused to walk or move. He asked the crew and cast to carry him. They had to spoon-feed him every meal. This eventually injured a couple of his ribs by taking up most of his time.He was in the character's wheelchair.This lasted for months. It earned him many awards, including the Best Actor Oscar.The Best Actor Oscar.My Left Foot.

Brian De Palma.The Untouchables.The Untouchables greatly shows Robert De Niro's focus on.He showed detail and specificity as an actor.Much likeRaging Bull.De Niro began studying the material as soon as he knew he would play legendary gangster Al Capone.legendary gangster Al Capone.De Niro read interviews, newspaper articles, and anything relevant. Once he knew the character well, he made small script changes—requesting an extra scene, for example—and had one month to gain 30 pounds.He gained 30 pounds.He was very concerned about the shape of his face for the part.He changed the shape of his face.for the part.

During filming, he had every piece of wardrobe made to exactly match what Capone wore, including the fabrics from that time. De Niro used Capone's actual tailors.Actual tailors were involved.He found these tailors himself. He started smoking Capone's favorite cigars and learned how to properly swing and beat a man with a baseball bat, just like Capone did.

De Niro even made multiple pairs of silk underwear to match Capone's, even though they would never appear on film.

Sylvester Stallone is a tough guy. His training and dedication to his characters are just as strong. He demands that he take all the physical beatings his characters endure in every movie. He does things no stuntman would dare.

The best example is in.Rocky IV.In Rocky IV, he convinced Dolph Lundgren to spar with him on camera and throw real punches in the ring. He got punched so hard in the chest that his heart hit his breastbone and swelled up, nearly killing him. He stayed in intensive care, near death, for eight days.

Jim Carrey played the famous entertainer Andy Kaufman and his notorious alter ego Tony Clifton in the 1999 biopic.

Moments after his audition, Carrey played Kaufman's actual trademark bongos and performed a song right there.He stayed in character throughout production.

In 2000, Ed Harris tried hard to become painter Jackson Pollock for the biopic, which he also directed.

The movie reportedly took him ten years of prep. Say that with me now:TEN YEARSWhen was the last time you remember spending ten years doing anything?anything... Whoa. He turned his whole house into an art studio, learning to paint in that trademark Pollock drip style, and he gained 30 lbs. to look more like the painter. Harris even changed cigarette brands just in case Pollock was... watching, or something?

Daniel Day-Lewis focused on every detail while playing John Proctor, the 17th-century farmer, in Arthur Miller's film adaptation.

For the part, he spent the whole summer building the character's home. He also helped the crew and carpenters assemble the rest of the set on Hog Island, Northern Massachusetts. He learned to live like 1700s people, even without running water for months during pre-production and filming.

One of the most famous quotes from critics comes from this story of method acting madness.

Dustin Hoffman starred as Thomas "Babe" Levy in 1976's "Marathon Man." He was near 40. The role required him to play a college kid overwhelmed. The CW would doubt a man near 40 could pull that off. Hoffman felt concerned. He starred opposite Laurence Olivier.

Joaquin Phoenix shows the most public method acting. He played himself in Casey Affleck's I'm Still Here

The mockumentary follows Phoenixfrom the start of his new hip hop career up tohis "retirement." Describing how much he goes into playing this character is hard. He is this new alternate wannabe rapper, Joaquin Phoenix. He lives, eats, sleeps, walks, talks, and breathes a completely different person.

He kept up the mumbling, confused, almost nonsensical persona during the press junket for Two LoversThis is his supposed last film. Above is the David Letterman appearance when we first saw what Phoenix had become.

This entry is tricky. Tom Cruise did not use strict method acting prep to play hitman Vincent in Michael Mann's "Collateral."

Who is a movie star? Tom Cruise remains in everyone's top 5 movie stars after a 30-plus-year career. People love or hate him, but he has it. This huge worldwide fame brings a problem: no anonymity anywhere. A hitman needs anonymity most.