# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2011, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-most-outrageous-thing-an-actor-has-done-for-a-role/583236/61 "2011-05-28T15:24:06Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > Demi Moore did it first for _G.I. Jane_. Persis Khambatta beat Demi by over ten years in the first Star Trek movie. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2011, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-most-outrageous-thing-an-actor-has-done-for-a-role/583236/62 "2011-05-28T16:40:50Z")
Vincent D’Onofrio put on 70 pounds to play Private Pyle in Full Metal Jacket, then immediately lost it and a few more to play the super-buff Dawson (a/k/a Thor) in Adventures in Babysitting. > [@](#): > > ‘Vincent D’Onofrio (I)’ gained 70 pounds for his role as Pvt. Pyle, breaking Robert De Niro’s movie weight-gain record (60 pounds) for Raging Bull (1980). It took him seven months to put the weight on and nine months to take it off with physical training. From IMDB. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2011, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-most-outrageous-thing-an-actor-has-done-for-a-role/583236/63 "2011-05-28T17:58:54Z")
What about unsuccessful attempts to get roles? I’m remembering when Sean Young showed up on the set of a Batman movie dressed as Catwoman to try and get the role. ---
**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, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-most-outrageous-thing-an-actor-has-done-for-a-role/583236/64 "2011-05-28T18:23:52Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > Persis Khambatta beat Demi by over ten years in the first Star Trek movie. Doesn’t count if you’re not an internationally renowned sex symbol, sorry. My post, my rules ! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2011, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-most-outrageous-thing-an-actor-has-done-for-a-role/583236/65 "2011-05-28T19:40:23Z")
> [@](#): > > Vincent D’Onofrio put on 70 pounds to play Private Pyle in Full Metal Jacket, then immediately lost it and a few more to play the super-buff Dawson (a/k/a Thor) in Adventures in Babysitting. Whoa, that was the same guy? I would never, _never_ have guessed that. As for the other actresses who had sex in a mainstream movie being less than famous, let’s be honest, here: Who here had ever heard of Chloe Sevigny before _The Brown Bunny_? ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2011, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-most-outrageous-thing-an-actor-has-done-for-a-role/583236/66 "2011-05-28T20:10:24Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Who here had ever heard of Chloe Sevigny before _The Brown Bunny_? She was nominated for an academy award in 1999 ;). _Brown Bunny_ wasn’t until 2003. She mostly acted in more art house-type films, but could probably have been considered a moderately well known young character actor before acquiring her fellatio fame. ---
**Author:** ![chizzuk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@chizzuk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chizzuk)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2011, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-most-outrageous-thing-an-actor-has-done-for-a-role/583236/67 "2011-05-28T20:37:42Z")
> [@Mr.Excellent](#): > > 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. It was actually far worse than that: Landis was also violating child labor laws when the scene was shot. Morrow was doing the scene with two children, ages 6 and 7, in the middle of the night, and it is not permitted for kids to work that late. So the director paid them under the table and hid them from safety officers. Then the helicopter crashed, decapitating Morrow and one of the children and impaling the other. All 3 were killed. I read an article on it that was utterly nauseating. As for the thread topic, Michael Weatherly (Tony DiNozzo on NCIS) was disowned by his rich parents for becoming an actor. Kind of ironic that his character plays a guy disowned by his parents for pursuing an unapproved career. Though I guess Weatherly has kind of stuck it to his parents since then, as I can’t imagine he’s wanting for much financially at this point. ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2011, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-most-outrageous-thing-an-actor-has-done-for-a-role/583236/68 "2011-05-28T21:02:52Z")
> [@SuperNelson](#): > > Actually, Christian Bale got buff for “American Psycho” (2000). > Then he lost 63 pounds for “The Machinist” (2004). > Then bulked up for “Batman Begins” (2005). > Then lost a lot of weight again for “Rescue Dawn” (2006). > Then bulked up again for “The Dark Knight” (2008) _snip_ He may have “bulked up” for Dark Knight, but I really did notice how they seemed to put some effort into avoiding showing Bale shirtless in DK, so I suspect that he fattened up but didn’t have time to get buff and muscular. The one time he changed his shirt on camera, he did it with his back to the camera, and they filmed it so you only saw the fresh, clean shirt fabric. If he was buff, you’d think they’d make a point of showing off his physique when they had the chance to flash some beefcake. I do know from an interview that prior to Batman Begins, he said he restored his weight in a really unhealthy way, so when he met the director he “looked like a bear” and was really big but not muscular. I’m guessing he did the same for DK but ran out of time. His physical transformation for the Machinist certainly was one of the more stunning I think I’ve ever seen. Jared Leto also gained a lot of weight to portray John Lennon’s assassin. Losing the weight he ended up with gout. ---
**Author:** ![Steophan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steophan/32/9595_2.png) [@Steophan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steophan)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2011, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-most-outrageous-thing-an-actor-has-done-for-a-role/583236/69 "2011-05-28T22:04:29Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > As for the other actresses who had sex in a mainstream movie being less than famous, let’s be honest, here: Who here had ever heard of Chloe Sevigny before _The Brown Bunny_? She was in Boys Don’t Cry and American Psycho, I’d imagine both of those are more well known than The Brown Bunny. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2011, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-most-outrageous-thing-an-actor-has-done-for-a-role/583236/70 "2011-05-31T19:37:58Z")
> [@Push\_You\_Down](#): > > …you just listed a hell of a lot of WHO? I think they are all from European movies. Didn’t look them up on IMDB. > [@Icarus](#): > > Not an actor - in the documentary [SICK: The Life & Death of Bob Flanagan, Supermasochist](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120126/), professional masochist/performance artist Bob Flanagan nails his penis to a board, in close up. Oh, and he also dies (unrelated to the nailing). Don’t think it counts, as being a masochist he probably would do that anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/face_intentionally_left_blank/32/288_2.png) [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2011, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-most-outrageous-thing-an-actor-has-done-for-a-role/583236/71 "2011-06-01T05:01:10Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > Doesn’t count if you’re not an internationally renowned sex symbol, sorry. My post, my rules ! 😛 You mean, like the winner of Miss India beauty pageant, a Miss Universe contestant, and a model for the Revlon cosmetics company? > **[Persis Khambatta](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persis_Khambatta)** > > Persis Khambatta (2 October 1948 – 18 August 1998) was an Indian actress, model and beauty pageant titleholder best remembered for playing Lieutenant Ilia in the feature film Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979). > Persis Khambatta was born in Bombay to a middle-class Parsi family. Her father left her family when she was two years old. She first gained fame when a set of her pictures casually taken by a well-known Bombay photographer\[who?\] was used for a successful campaign for a popular soap b... ---
**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2011, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-most-outrageous-thing-an-actor-has-done-for-a-role/583236/72 "2011-06-01T07:19:38Z")
Can I nominate Joey Tribiani for using a prosthetic foreskin in an attempt to get a role? (that then fell off during the audition) ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2011, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-most-outrageous-thing-an-actor-has-done-for-a-role/583236/73 "2011-06-01T08:32:01Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Who here had ever heard of Chloe Sevigny before _The Brown Bunny_? _American_ fucking _Psycho_ man. I had such a huge crush on her in that when I first saw it as a kid. Needless to say I was very happy when I’d heard she’d done [del]hardcore porn[/del] an indie art house movie. ---
**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:** [June 1, 2011, 9:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-most-outrageous-thing-an-actor-has-done-for-a-role/583236/74 "2011-06-01T09:01:13Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > As for the other actresses who had sex in a mainstream movie being less than famous, let’s be honest, here: Who here had ever heard of Chloe Sevigny before _The Brown Bunny_? She was the central character in **Kids** , which made a lot of ripples when it came out. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2011, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-most-outrageous-thing-an-actor-has-done-for-a-role/583236/75 "2011-06-01T14:17:12Z")
I’m just guessing the OP doesn’t consider porn actors, uh, actors. ---
**Author:** ![melodyharmonius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/melodyharmonius/32/21310_2.png) [@melodyharmonius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/melodyharmonius)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2011, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-most-outrageous-thing-an-actor-has-done-for-a-role/583236/76 "2011-06-01T15:24:43Z")
> [@Krokodil](#): > > She was the central character in **Kids** , which made a lot of ripples when it came out. That’s where I saw her first as well. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2011, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-most-outrageous-thing-an-actor-has-done-for-a-role/583236/77 "2011-06-01T16:50:35Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > I’m just guessing the OP doesn’t consider porn actors, uh, actors. The German/Turkish actress [Sibel Kekilli](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1402546/bio) has [won 15 best actress prizes at different film festivals](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1402546/awards). During the hoopla over winning the Golden Bear for her film _[Head-On](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0347048/)_ her past as porn actress Dilara was discovered. Now by the standards of German porn, her work was pretty mild, but it was very definitely hard-core, close-up porn. There have been very good actresses in porn, but very few good directors. Unless you can do absolutely brilliant work on the first take for a director who wouldn’t know good work if it slapped him in the face, you are not going to be good in a porn film. Sibel is proof that having vaginal, oral and anal sex on camera does not ruin you as an actor forever. ---
**Author:** ![tumbleddown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tumbleddown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tumbleddown)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2011, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-most-outrageous-thing-an-actor-has-done-for-a-role/583236/78 "2011-06-01T18:22:09Z")
> [@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. > [@RickJay](#): > > 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. It’s definitely meant to signal neurosis on Bridget’s part. Zellwegers weight gain for the role actually put her (on the flawed scale that is BMI) smack dab in the middle of average weight, not overweight by any standard. Bridget was made to look heavier than she is with camera angles, padded underwear, and clothing a size too small. That Bridget was, amongst other foibles, not the most fashionable dresser, was another part of her neurotic character type. I think the more notable thing is the fact that _most_ Hollywood actresses, especially those under 40 or so, are constantly living on a caloric intake best suited for weight _loss_, not maintenance, plus several hours of exercise a day, in order to maintain a level of thinness that isn’t natural for their bodies, and it’s expected, applauded, and when anyone attains success while eschewing that body-destroying paradigm, they’re hailed as some kind of physical groundbreaker because they have the nerve to be entirely average in size. (See: Christina Hendricks, Sara Ramirez from Grey’s Anatomy, America Ferrera from Ugly Betty.) > [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > John Linquenzamo (horrible last name spelling…) Leguizamo. ---
**Author:** ![SeldomSeen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ba0ec/32.png) [@SeldomSeen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeldomSeen)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2011, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-most-outrageous-thing-an-actor-has-done-for-a-role/583236/79 "2011-06-01T19:07:26Z")
Kate Winslett had an interesting scene in **Holy Smoke** wherein she stood nude and peed on the ground. With her well-known penchant for realism she attempted to do the scene…realistically. It didn’t quite work out… \*“It wasn’t really me weeing. I was rigged. It was so funny. What they did was rig a saline-drip fluid bag at the center of my back. And then there’s this tube, which you wedge up your bum. I wanted to do one take where it actually was me weeing. But unfortunately, when you stand and wee yourself, it just all goes down one side of your leg. And you need to get it down the middle.” \*\* Elderly pervert that I am, I find the vision of Kate Winslet peeing to be rather…intriguing \*Quoted from [katewinsletfan.com](http://katewinsletfan.com) ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2011, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-most-outrageous-thing-an-actor-has-done-for-a-role/583236/80 "2011-06-01T20:19:59Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > The German/Turkish actress [Sibel Kekilli](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1402546/bio) has [won 15 best actress prizes at different film festivals](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1402546/awards). During the hoopla over winning the Golden Bear for her film _[Head-On](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0347048/)_ her past as porn actress Dilara was discovered. > > Now by the standards of German porn, her work was pretty mild, but it was very definitely hard-core, close-up porn. > > There have been very good actresses in porn, but very few good directors. Unless you can do absolutely brilliant work on the first take for a director who wouldn’t know good work if it slapped him in the face, you are not going to be good in a porn film. Sibel is proof that having vaginal, oral and anal sex on camera does not ruin you as an actor forever. That’s all well and good, but so what? The OP was asking about “outrageous”, not “good”. Most of the things cited here don’t even come near what you can see in pretty much any porn movie. Well, not the driving-a-nail-through-his-own-penis guy, except I don’t think he really did it for a movie role. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-most-outrageous-thing-an-actor-has-done-for-a-role/583236.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-most-outrageous-thing-an-actor-has-done-for-a-role/583236.md?page=5)