Sometimes an actor gets so close to a character that they're never the same. Welcome to MsMojo, for this list, we’ll be looking at the most daunting movie performances that deeply traumatized actors and left them with lasting scars.
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00:00 "Hello Georgie. What a nice boat."
00:05 Welcome to Ms. Mojo. For this list, we'll be looking at the most daunting movie performances
00:10 that deeply traumatized actors and left them with lasting scars.
00:15 "Give me the bag. Give me the bag."
00:17 Number 10. Jim Carrey - How the Grinch Stole Christmas
00:24 Today, Ron Howard's How the Grinch Stole Christmas is a classic holiday movie.
00:29 Thanks in large part to Jim Carrey's captivating performance as the titular creature.
00:34 "Hello, little girl. How dare you enter the Grinch's lair?"
00:44 However, getting into makeup for the character was so grueling that it nearly made Carrey quit.
00:49 "When I did the Grinch, I was, uh, literally the makeup was like being buried alive every day."
00:55 On the first day of shooting, the process reportedly took eight and a half hours,
01:00 which sent Carrey into a violent rage and made him ask to be fired. His increasing frustration
01:06 affected the crew, leading his personal makeup artist to temporarily quit. In the end,
01:12 a specialist experienced in training CIA operatives was brought in to help Carrey cope.
01:17 "A gentleman who is trained to, uh, uh, to teach CIA operatives, uh, how to endure torture."
01:25 The arduous process clearly wasn't in vain,
01:28 as the film eventually won the Academy Award for Best Makeup.
01:31 "That wasn't so bad, was it, Max?"
01:36 Number 9. Dakota Johnson - Suspiria
01:42 After rising to prominence with the provocative Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy,
01:46 "Ella."
01:48 "Christian."
01:49 Dakota Johnson landed the lead role in Luca Guadagnino's Suspiria remake. Johnson played
01:56 Susie, a young American woman obsessed with a German dance school who gradually discovers
02:01 their dark secrets. As bizarre as the 2018 film was, the production process proved equally demanding.
02:08 Johnson revealed that the role was so taxing that she had to seek therapy after filming concluded.
02:14 "Sometimes with dark subject matter, it can stay with you, and then to talk to somebody
02:20 really nice about it afterwards is a really nice way to move on from the project."
02:24 Surprisingly, the impact wasn't solely psychological. It was also apparently physical.
02:30 "I believe you deserve to know the truth."
02:33 Johnson recounted that during the shooting, they had to stay in an abandoned hotel which
02:38 was rigged with telephone poles, leaving them at constant risk of electric shock.
02:44 #8 Bob Hoskins - Who Framed Roger Rabbit
02:48 Helmed by visionary director Robert Zemeckis, Who Framed Roger Rabbit was groundbreaking for
02:54 its seamless blend of live-action and animation. Playing the lead human role,
03:01 Bob Hoskins was required to interact with cartoon characters that were non-existent during shooting.
03:06 "You've been hanging around rabbits too long."
03:10 He apparently had to hallucinate the tunes in order to give a believable performance.
03:14 Despite the impressive on-screen outcome, this process significantly affected Hoskins.
03:19 "How the hell did you get in here?"
03:24 The toll was so great that the actor continued to experience hallucinations
03:28 long after filming concluded, leading him to take a year-long hiatus from acting.
03:33 This might have contributed to Hoskins' initial reluctance to sign on for a proposed
03:38 sequel to the movie before he passed away in 2014.
03:41 #7 Jim Caviezel - The Passion of the Christ
03:46 Even before filming on The Passion of the Christ began,
03:49 Jim Caviezel knew that the role would have lasting consequences.
03:53 Just after securing the lead, director Mel Gibson reportedly tried to talk Caviezel out of it,
04:03 saying it would hurt his career.
04:05 "I'm sorry, but I'm not going to do it. I'm not going to do it."
04:11 Apparently, Gibson's concerns were valid. According to Caviezel, his opportunities in
04:16 Hollywood dwindled after The Passion of the Christ was released, leaving him feeling shunned by the
04:21 industry. But the repercussions weren't confined to his career alone. Caviezel's physical health
04:27 also suffered. During production, he reportedly endured a dislocated shoulder, lightning strike,
04:33 and even suffered hypothermia and pneumonia.
04:35 "And then, um, it was probably more like three seconds, it felt like five,
04:40 but it was probably less than that. And then, and then boom, I shot me out of my body."
04:47 Despite facing these challenges in the first film, Caviezel has committed to a sequel.
04:51 #6 Adrian Brody - The Pianist
04:55 For his remarkable turn as Polish composer Wladyslaw Szpilman in The Pianist,
05:00 Adrian Brody became the youngest person to win the Oscar for Best Actor.
05:05 "I've been in hiding. I need somewhere to stay."
05:10 But all of that acclaim seemed to come at a price. Brody has been very open about the
05:14 transformation he underwent to portray the part. He reportedly relinquished his apartment and car,
05:20 isolated himself from society, and lost 30 pounds. These sacrifices took a toll on him,
05:26 both physically and emotionally, leaving Brody grappling with
05:30 depression for about a year after production wrapped.
05:32 As a result, the actor turned down the lead role in Werner Herzog's Rescue Dawn,
05:49 which eventually went to Christian Bale, as he didn't think he had fully recovered.
05:54 #5 Janet Leigh - Psycho
05:57 Arguably one of the most recognizable moments in movie history,
06:01 the shower scene from Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho has given many nightmares.
06:05 But it may surprise you to know that even some involved in making the film were haunted by it,
06:15 notably Janet Leigh.
06:17 "Did you go out with friends?"
06:23 "Well, a boy's best friend is his mother."
06:25 The actress admitted that after watching the gory scene,
06:28 it had such a profound impact on her that she stopped taking showers.
06:32 "It's not PR, it is true. I stopped taking showers. I will not go into a shower
06:39 unless there's no other way to bathe."
06:41 Perhaps fearing a reenactment by another knife-wielding, wig-wearing motel owner,
06:46 Leigh switched to taking only baths. When that option wasn't available,
06:50 she would take extra precautions like ensuring the doors were locked and keeping the shower
06:55 curtain open. Considering the circumstances, we can't say we blame her. Better safe than sorry.
07:01 #4 Bill Skarsgård - It
07:05 Bill Skarsgård had big shoes to fill when he signed on to play Pennywise in the 2017
07:10 adaptation of Stephen King's It.
07:18 The Swedish actor fully immersed himself in the role,
07:21 delivering a chilling performance that won significant acclaim.
07:25 "Where you going, Ed?"
07:32 However, even after taking off the clown costume, it appears Pennywise lingered in Skarsgård's psyche.
07:38 The actor admitted he struggled to detach from the character, which he referred to as his most
07:43 physically and mentally exhausting up to that point. Strikingly, Pennywise repeatedly haunted
07:49 his dreams after filming, morphing into different forms every night.
07:53 "Did you miss me, Richie?"
07:54 If Skarsgård aimed to permanently free himself of the character's grasp,
07:59 perhaps stepping right back into its shoes for the sequel wasn't the best approach.
08:03 #3 Shelley Duvall - The Shining
08:07 When Stanley Kubrick personally selected Shelley Duvall for his adaptation of Stephen King's The
08:13 Shining, little did she know the lasting impact it would have on her life.
08:17 "How do you think you can handle that?"
08:19 "Yeah."
08:23 Throughout the lengthy shoot, Duvall and Kubrick continuously sparred,
08:28 as the director relentlessly pushed her way beyond her limits in pursuit of an authentic performance.
08:33 Perhaps most infamous was the grueling baseball bat scene,
08:37 which demanded a record-breaking 127 takes from Duvall.
08:42 "Give me the bat. Give me the bat."
08:44 The then-young actress was under so much pressure that she would cry every day just thinking about
08:53 what was ahead, and eventually began losing her hair. Even decades after the 56-week shoot
09:00 concluded, Duvall still seems to carry the scars with her.
09:03 "Here's Johnny!"
09:06 #2 Isabelle Adjani - Possession
09:12 André Jouavski's 1981 psychological horror Possession stars Isabelle Adjani and Sam Neill
09:19 as a couple whose failing marriage unveils a series of sinister truths.
09:23 "Jesus! Jesus! Jesus! Jesus! Jesus!"
09:30 The role won Adjani her first César award, as well as the Best Actress title at the Cannes Film
09:36 Festival. Despite this success, Adjani considers herself a survivor for making it through the
09:42 production alive.
09:43 Especially considering that she allegedly tried to take her own life after the film was released.
09:58 But even after surviving that attempt, it still took Adjani years before she was finally free
10:03 from the shackles of the character Anna.
10:08 Even her co-star Sam Neill has admitted that he quote,
10:17 "only just escaped that film with my sanity barely intact."
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10:36 Number 1. Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight
10:41 Fans were excited when The Dark Knight, the second installment in Christopher Nolan's
10:46 superhero trilogy, hit theaters in July of 2008. But sadly, not everyone involved in bringing the
10:52 film to life would live to see its release. Just six months prior, Heath Ledger, who starred as
10:58 the Joker, passed on from an accidental drug overdose. It's been widely reported that Ledger
11:04 went down a deep, dark hole to accurately portray what he referred to as a quote,
11:10 "psychopathic, mass-murdering, schizophrenic clown with zero empathy."
11:14 "Why so serious?"
11:17 The process reportedly led him to suffer from insomnia and develop a reliance on sleeping
11:24 pills. Ultimately, it was a combination of sedatives and prescription drugs that led to
11:29 Ledger's untimely death. "See, madness, as you know, is like gravity. All it takes is a little push."
11:39 What acting role were you never the same after watching? Let us know in the comments.
11:46 "What's up, Doc?"
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