Well, the Oscars are nearly upon us, but this year, the story of method acting that gobbled up the most attention wasn’t from the likes of Christian Bale or Daniel Day-Lewis or any other respected titan of the full-bore technique. Instead, it was surprisingly unsurprising: Jared Leto. And method he went. The stories from the set of the foul “Suicide Squad” abounded and ranged from normal (Will Smith said he never met Jared Leto, only The Joker) to strange (Leto sent Margot Robbie a live rat) to the sexually harassing (sending cast members used condoms). Which, I guess, is to say that Leto really committed himself to becoming The Joker. The problem is, committing yourself to an undercooked character in a poorly written film directed by a disciple of the Michael Bay school of filmmaking means it probably isn’t worth it. And boy was it not worth it.
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To step back a bit, though, and round up some of the most absurd method-acting stories, MindChop has put together a nice (and unsettling) list of 10 actors who took the craft way too far. The 11-minute video parses some of the ridiculous extremes that actors and actresses have gone to to portray their characters. Mostly, though, the video focuses on films that wound up benefiting from the dedicated acting at their core.
Topping the list are handful of recognizable method regulars, but a few surprises do abound. Like Jim Carrey’s unhinged and volatile portrayal of Andy Kaufman in “Man On The Moon,” which won Carrey some honors and awards, but, more than anything, gave him good cause to apologize to those who had to deal with him throughout filming.
Whether you’re a fan of the outrageous lengths some actors will go to for their craft — or if you even believe it’s worth a damn — “10 Popular Actors Who Took Their Movie Roles Way Too Far” is a fascinating look at the good, the bad and the ugly of artistic dedication.
Check out the video above and weigh in with your thoughts in the comments below. [AV Club]
