# What’s the most outrageous thing an actor has done for a role? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 26, 2011, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-most-outrageous-thing-an-actor-has-done-for-a-role/583236 "2011-05-26T01:53:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-most-outrageous-thing-an-actor-has-done-for-a-role/583236/41 "2011-05-27T02:54:59Z")
Especially in the days of the studio system, I’m sure there are innumerable “casting couch” stories that will never be known for sure. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-most-outrageous-thing-an-actor-has-done-for-a-role/583236/42 "2011-05-27T02:58:52Z")
Christian Bale, [some roles just aren’t worth it](http://www.listal.com/viewimage/1196860). ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-most-outrageous-thing-an-actor-has-done-for-a-role/583236/43 "2011-05-27T03:49:19Z")
> [@ladyfoxfyre](#): > > Probably Christian Bale’s devastating weight loss for his role in The Machinist. I was going to say this so ummmmmm . . . ditto. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-most-outrageous-thing-an-actor-has-done-for-a-role/583236/44 "2011-05-27T03:54:48Z")
Along the lines of _the Machinist_, Michael Fassbender starved himself to play Bobby Sands in _Hunger_. Three guesses how the real Sands died. Supposedly he went from 73kg to 57kg (166 lbs to 126 lbs) which doesn’t sound like that much, but see the pics: [1](http://resources2.news.com.au/images/2008/11/13/va1237340493134/Michael-Fassbender-in-The-Hunger-6347613.jpg) [2](http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2009/9/25/1253872545953/Michael-Fassbender-in-Hun-004.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-most-outrageous-thing-an-actor-has-done-for-a-role/583236/45 "2011-05-27T03:56:22Z")
> [@Mister\_Cheech](#): > > Nicolas Cage/Vampire’s Kiss has already been mentioned in this thread, but it has to be seen to be believed: > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfcJUl39iiA](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfcJUl39iiA) WTF!? Wow, that’s even better than [The Wicker Man](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6i2WRreARo)! ---
**Author:** ![DxZero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@DxZero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DxZero)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-most-outrageous-thing-an-actor-has-done-for-a-role/583236/46 "2011-05-27T04:02:50Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > WTF!? Wow, that’s even better than [The Wicker Man](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6i2WRreARo)! Well the Vampire’s Kiss was meant to be comedic while The Wicker Man was not. I’d say both failed at their intended mission. ---
**Author:** ![Gilles\_de\_Rais](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@Gilles\_de\_Rais](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gilles_de_Rais)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-most-outrageous-thing-an-actor-has-done-for-a-role/583236/47 "2011-05-27T04:03:24Z")
I remember reading that for the final scene in _Mr. Smith Goes to Washington_, Jimmy Stewart had a doctor on the set who would continually spray murcurcrome into his throat to make it hoarse and scratchy. When it started to clear up and get better, Stewart would stop the cameras and ask for more murcurcrome. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-most-outrageous-thing-an-actor-has-done-for-a-role/583236/48 "2011-05-27T04:03:27Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > Christian Bale, [some roles just aren’t worth it](http://www.listal.com/viewimage/1196860). Couldn’t bother to read two entire posts into the thread? I think that’s a new record. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-most-outrageous-thing-an-actor-has-done-for-a-role/583236/49 "2011-05-27T04:06:50Z")
Every actor in _Fitzcarraldo_ should probably be nominated. ---
**Author:** ![Gilles\_de\_Rais](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@Gilles\_de\_Rais](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gilles_de_Rais)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-most-outrageous-thing-an-actor-has-done-for-a-role/583236/50 "2011-05-27T05:56:49Z")
Lon Chaney in the 1923 _Hunchbank_… > [@](#): > > Strict confinement to the brace that held his legs together reportedly caused Lon Chaney to suffer severe pain for the rest of his life. The contact lens he wore in the film also caused tremendous vision loss. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 10:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-most-outrageous-thing-an-actor-has-done-for-a-role/583236/51 "2011-05-27T10:21:39Z")
> [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](#): > > Rumor has it that Harvey Keitel was replaced in _Eyes Wide Shut_ because he ejaculated onto Nicole Kidman, but I think that’s a little off topic from what the OP is asking. Not sure that’s in the same league. I can’t imagine pulling out good teeth, losing and gaining 80 pounds in the same year, or blowing Vince Gallo. Ejaculating on Nicole Kidman is something I could be talked into. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 10:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-most-outrageous-thing-an-actor-has-done-for-a-role/583236/52 "2011-05-27T10:27:46Z")
> [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](#): > > I have no idea if what you wrote is true, but it would surprise me somewhat if John Landis was a big time cocaine addict, as he was one of the only people in all of showbiz to openly confront John Belushi over his drug addiction, and in fact during one attempted intervention, Landis actually hit Belushi square in the face, despite Belushi weighing at least 100 pounds more than Landis did at the time. > > . . . > > One last thing, after John Landis hit John Belushi, JB bust into tears, telling JL that he was ashamed of himself and his addiction, and Landis told Belushi that he loved him like a brother and would do anything he could to help him get clean… This story was told in Woodward’s book _Wired_. It wasn’t exactly what I’d call your typical intervention. 😃 Landis first came into Belushi’s trailer because they were way behind schedule shooting a simple scene for _The Blues Brothers_. Landis found Belushi nearly incoherent and a huge pile of cocaine on the table. Landis was so furious he scooped up all the coke and dumped it into the toilet. This enraged Belushi so much that he got up and went to punch Landis but was so out of it that the director easily dodged him and then he punched the much heavier Belushi square in the face knocking him to the floor. Belushi then began sobbing etc. as you mentioned. ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-most-outrageous-thing-an-actor-has-done-for-a-role/583236/53 "2011-05-27T13:34:07Z")
> [@Krokodil](#): > > Not sure that’s in the same league. I can’t imagine pulling out good teeth, losing and gaining 80 pounds in the same year, or blowing Vince Gallo. Ejaculating on Nicole Kidman is something I could be talked into. Ditto. And I don’t know if IG was joking, but I’m trying to remember a scene that would have involved any actor ejaculating on her, intentionally or otherwise. Of course, it may have occurred during one of those parts when I was bored to death. ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-most-outrageous-thing-an-actor-has-done-for-a-role/583236/54 "2011-05-27T16:27:42Z")
> [@corkboard](#): > > Ditto. And I don’t know if IG was joking, but I’m trying to remember a scene that would have involved any actor ejaculating on her, intentionally or otherwise. Of course, it may have occurred during one of those parts when I was bored to death. I’m not joking, but I am referring to something only as true as anything else I’ve read on the Internet. > **[Film - The Village Voice](https://www.villagevoice.com/culture/film/)** ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-most-outrageous-thing-an-actor-has-done-for-a-role/583236/55 "2011-05-27T16:39:21Z")
> [@Jim\_s\_Son](#): > > Vic Morrow put himself in a dangerous situation with a low flying helicopter..and got killed for it..to satisfy cokehead director John Landis in “Twilight Zone The Movie”. Honestly, doesn’t the blame for that lie with the special effects people and the pilot? Landis isn’t a pyrotechnics guy or a pilot - he know what he _wanted_ to do, certainly, but it was the responsibility of these experts to tell him whether or not it could be done safely. ---
**Author:** ![Small\_Hen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ad7895/32.png) [@Small\_Hen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Hen)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-most-outrageous-thing-an-actor-has-done-for-a-role/583236/56 "2011-05-27T22:12:57Z")
Looking over this thread and thinking about it a bit, I think the massive quantity of stunt work that Jackie Chan has done over his career probably wins. The man’s broken every bone in his body. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-most-outrageous-thing-an-actor-has-done-for-a-role/583236/57 "2011-05-27T22:46:28Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > Renee Zellweger gaining however much weight for “Bridget Jone’s Diary” was damned gutsy considering being an overweight woman _anywhere_ is practically a capital offense, nevermind Hollywood. Gaining 15-20 pounds isn’t exactly a huge deal, even for a relatively short woman in Hollywood. With a professional trainer you could lose it in a matter of weeks. Part of the joke of Bridget Jones is that she isn’t fat; she just thinks she is, and obsesses over one-pound gains. In the book, her average reported weight is about 125 pounds, never going below 120 and never above 131, IIRC. If Bridget’s 5’4", like Renee Zellwegger, she is pretty much smack dab perfect weight. I don’t think Helen Fielding did that by accident. ---
**Author:** ![TPWombat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbce88/32.png) [@TPWombat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TPWombat)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2011, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-most-outrageous-thing-an-actor-has-done-for-a-role/583236/58 "2011-05-28T10:40:27Z")
Brandon Lee actually got shot and died in [The Crow](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109506/combined) I don’t think he did it on purpose though. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2011, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-most-outrageous-thing-an-actor-has-done-for-a-role/583236/59 "2011-05-28T13:13:06Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > I thought Natalie Portman shaving her head for “V for Vendetta” was pretty bold Demi Moore did it first for _G.I. Jane_. ---
**Author:** ![theR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/977dab/32.png) [@theR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/theR)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2011, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-most-outrageous-thing-an-actor-has-done-for-a-role/583236/60 "2011-05-28T14:07:49Z")
> [@heathen\_earthling](#): > > The tooth removal strikes me as way more extreme than anything else mentioned, because I assume he wasn’t able to have them reattached. With everything else mentioned you can usually go back to normal in time. I’ve read that it was his wisdom teeth. I’ve also read it was a publicist that mentioned the “without anesthesia” and that it wasn’t true. I think, judging by the number of different versions I find when searching for facts about the removal of his teeth, that it’s highly likely to either be untrue that he had teeth removed for the role or highly embellished. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-most-outrageous-thing-an-actor-has-done-for-a-role/583236.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-most-outrageous-thing-an-actor-has-done-for-a-role/583236.md?page=4)