Especially in the days of the studio system, I’m sure there are innumerable “casting couch” stories that will never be known for sure.
Christian Bale, some roles just aren’t worth it.
I was going to say this so ummmmmm . . . ditto.
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:
WTF!? Wow, that’s even better than The Wicker Man!
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.
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.
Couldn’t bother to read two entire posts into the thread? I think that’s a new record.
Every actor in Fitzcarraldo should probably be nominated.
Lon Chaney in the 1923 Hunchbank…
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Brandon Lee actually got shot and died in The Crow
I don’t think he did it on purpose though.
Demi Moore did it first for G.I. Jane.
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.