Have you ever rooted for an actor because of what he/she had to do his/her body to perfect the role?

[Mike 03]

I am thinking of De Niro in Raging Bull, George Clooney in Syria, Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis in Black Swan, Jared Leto in 24, Patricia Arquette gaining 20 in Beyond Rangoon, Christian Bale in which he starved himself to play a junkie, Linda Hamilton in Terminator 2, Gwyneth Paltrow gaining 20 or 30 pounds to play her character in Country Strong, an actor taking on smoking, drinking, shooting drugs to make depiction of a role "realistic", etc...

Bottom line: If an actor/actress mutilates himself to physically transform for a role, do you take that into account when assessing whether or not he or she should win awards?

[Lucinda]

1. Nope.

:)

[lunatica]

2. I do

I find that to be highly committed to one's career and professionalism. Names you can add to that are Matt Damon both losing a lot of weight and gaining it, and Daniel Day-Lewis for any number of roles.

[pacalo]

3. Yes, it shows their commitment to the integrity of the role.

For Dustin Hoffman's Ratso role in "Midnight Cowboy", he put a rock in one shoe for a more pronounced limp in his walk. He shaved his eyebrows for "Tootsie".

Charlize Theron gained a lot of weight & didn't mind looking horrible in "Monster".

[Richardo]

4. I was thinking of Charlize Theron too...

...and not in the usual way. :)

[jobycom]

5. Christopher Reeve bulking up to play Superman, Matt Damon starved himself for "Courage Under Fire."

Most high-dollar actors go through radical body changes for roles. Most aren't as thin when they aren't filming as when they are. They tend to gain twenty or thirty pounds after a shoot, then lose it before the next film or big appearance. Tom Hanks and John Travolta both went through dramatic weight loss/exercise routines to get thin again for big roles--compare Hanks in the Da Vinci Code to Angels and Demons.

Reeve was a smallish actor when he was cast for Superman, and they originally planned to add padding to his suit to make him look buff. Reeves thought that was the lazy way out, and worked out with David Prowse (Darth Vader) to bulk up. He went from a skinny drama kid picked because he looked like Clark Kent to a bulked-up Superman who wore no padding at all in costume.

Damon lost fifty pounds in three months and began suffering health problems for "Courage Under Fire," where he played a heroin addict. Then he bulked up and learned martial arts for the Bourne films. The guy is scary-committed when he takes a role.

Anyway, I don't really cheer for them just because of the effort, but if it becomes part of a great performance, it impresses me more.

Then there was Martin Lawrence, who gained a lot of weight before a role and tried to lose it all at once. He starved himself, wrapped himself in plastic wrap, and went running in near-100 degree heat in California, where he passed out. When they found him his temperature was 107. He was in a coma and "extremely critical" condition for three days, and doctors were worried he was brain dead, though after such a dumb act they wondered if he had much to lose to start with. He fully recovered, but almost went down as another Hollywood morality tale. So some actors push it too far.

[travelingtypist]

6. I came in to mention Matt Damon in Courage Under Fire.

Glad you beat me to it. That was amazing. MD really got my attention with that part and what he did to make it realistic and I've made it a point to watch everything he's done since then.

[dimbear]

7. Bela Lugosi in Plan 9 From Outer Space.

The ultimate understated role.

[WinkyDink]

8. Yes, but my example is Lon Chaney. He was The Man, people.

http://www.goldensilents.com/stars/lonchaney.html
Few actors suffered as much physically for their craft as did Chaney. In one film he had his arms strapped tightly to his body to play the part of an armless knife thrower. In another, to look like a vampire, he wore a set of false teeth so enormous that he was in constant pain during filming. In yet another film he placed metal rings inside his eyelids to give himself a staring look.

http://www.suite101.com/content/the-machinist-physical-transformation-a213364
Method Acting - Lon Chaney to Christian Bale

[Godhumor]

9. Oddly enough, the body change 50 cent went through for his new unreleased movie is amazing

He plays a college football start beset by cancer, and dropped some serious, serious weight for the cancer part of the movie. If I remember correctly, he posted pictures of his new look on Facebook and caused a pretty massive amount of shock/worry.

[Swede]

10. Angelina Jolie had breast augmentation for her Lara Croft performance.

I rooted for that.

[Orrex]

11. Tom Hanks underwent quite a transformation for Cast Away

While Renee Zellweger had to pack it on for those execrable Bridget Jones movies.

[zanana1]

12. Patricia Arquette...

is now my favorite actress! Think of how hard it must be for an actress, who is judged not only for her acting ability but for her body, having to gain 20 lbs, full knowing how hard it will be to take off after the movie has been made. Having to wear much larger clothing is the pits when you just happen to gain weight, but when you do it on purpose, it must be doubly hard. That's just my opinion. I recently lost 50 lbs. and believe me, I never want to go through that again. It's not just physical, especially for a woman. It's also emotional and psychological.

[pitohui]

13. no every athlete does unnatural things to his/her body to win do you take that into account?

if you're an actor or an athlete your body is your tool and it's just expected of you to use it/work it i'm not gonna give you EXTRA bonus points for using it/working it

if i'm a bartender and someone tries to grab my thigh do you take that into acct when deciding how much to tip me? probably not... you figure it's all in the game

i only take it into acct and give a bigger tip and say we're not all like that because i've been on both sides

most of us have not been on both sides of acting