The terrible suffering that movie actors have to go to for success

Anne Hathaway, for example, in order to play a dying woman in the movie Les Miserables, literally starved herself, lost a lot of weight and, as a result, received the coveted statuette.

The nominees and winners of this year's Oscar also made fun of themselves a lot. And some of the sufferers did not even come close to the cherished goal. But each of them deserves at least a mention out of respect for their “professional feat”.

So, if you are a producer who wants to win his rising star or an actor who dreams of recognizing his talent, learn from the best.

1. "Blue is the warmest color." Everything looks real, because that's how it is

Director Abdelatif Keshish and actresses Lea Seydoux and Adele Exarkopoulos rushed to kiss each other, receiving the Palme d'Or for the film "Blue is the warmest color". However, in Toronto, actresses said that working with Keshish was a nightmare. You may ask why? Yes, take at least the fight scene, during the filming of which he forced Lea to really beat Adele for an hour. The director refused to stop filming even when Adele cut her hand with broken glass.

2. The star of "Rigor mortis" was deprived of the joy of life

For the filming of his vampire story "Rigor Mortis", director Juno Mak tried many Hong Kong movie stars, including Chin Siu-ho. "I wanted the main character to really sink into depression," Mac said in an interview. – We consulted with several doctors and came up with an insidious plan. Members of the crew regularly disturbed the actor's sleep, called him and forced him to talk for at least five minutes every two hours seven days a week for three months. He was also put on a strict diet: nothing but black coffee, boiled vegetables and water. Three months and – voila! Depression is evident.

3. "Dome" – the main role through the bed

Australian director Aaron Wilson at the casting for his film "Dome" met the applicants with an offer to sleep with him in exchange for the main role. He offered to just sit and think about this possibility. At this time, without warning or commenting on anything, the director filmed everyone on camera for 12 minutes. Many quickly began to feel very uncomfortable, nervous. As a result, the role went to an actor from New Zealand, Khan Chittenden, who managed to pass such tests without losing his composure.

4. "Gravity" isolated Sandra Bullock from the outside world

To beautifully shoot "cosmic light", the director of the film "Gravity" Alfonso Cuaron imprisoned Sandra Bullock in a lightbox, and she could communicate with the crew only through headphones. Getting the actress out of there was a very time-consuming process, so she spent 9-10 hours there in a row. However, there is no way to blame the director for this, Bullock herself decided not to leave the lightbox. Everyone goes to Oscar in their own way.

5. Matthew McConaughey was starved in the Dallas Buyers Club

Yes, the stars love this business. To play an AIDS patient in "Dallas Buyers Club," Matthew McConaughey dropped almost 25 kilos–that's twice what Anne Hathaway lost for "Les Miserables." He consulted about the diet with Tom Hanks, who also had to lose weight very quickly for his roles (earning second-degree diabetes as a result). Hearing from a friend the words: "My God, I think it's time to save you!", McConaughey realized that he had reached the right shape. His partner in the film Jared Leto, who also played an AIDS patient, lost 15 kilograms.

It may seem that such sacrifices for the sake of a role are a recent Hollywood tradition. Indeed, what those who want to get an Oscar are going through today is somewhat different from the times when Grace Kelly could get it for a role played just without makeup. But, in fact, the stars of the past years also had a very hard time.

6. "Valley of the Giants" put Wallace Reed on painkillers

Handsome Wallace Reed, the Hollywood star of 1919-1920, was injured in a train crash on the way to the shooting. To enable him to work, he was often given morphine as a painkiller. This led to addiction, and subsequently to alcoholism. He died in hospital at the age of 32.

7. "The Passion of Joan of Arc" ruined the career of Rene Falconetti

The 1928 film "The Passion of Joan of Arc" is mainly based on close-ups of the French actress Rene Falconetti. On the screen, she looks really exhausted, and there is an explanation for this. Director Carl Dreyer admitted that everything looks so realistic because on the set he forced Renee to fall to her knees on the stone floor until the right expression of suffering appeared on her face. The actress was so exhausted by such an experience that she no longer acted in any film.

8. "Frankenstein" showed Boris Karloff real horrors

Boris Karloff was made up for filming for four hours every day. Make-up artist Jack Pierce said that the actor not only spent 864 nightmarish hours with huge heavy bolts inserted into his neck, but also carried a steel spine weighing 2.5 kilograms, depicting a rod through which a current passes into the brain of the monster Dr. Frankenstein.

9. "Jim of the Jungle" Johnny Weissmuller lost weight from stress

Weight was a problem for actors 70 years ago. Johnny Weissmuller, who was removed from the role of Tarzan for extra pounds, was offered 75 thousand dollars for a role in the movie "Jim from the Jungle", but with the condition to deduct from this amount 5 thousand for every half kilo more than ninety-five. Under such pressure, the actor lost weight not from diet, but from stress.

10. "Rebecca" made Joan Fontaine feel unloved

Alfred Hitchcock has never been distinguished by a humane attitude towards actors. In the movie "Rebecca" Joan Fontaine perfectly conveyed fear and loneliness, because the director really made her feel these feelings, and the film crew played along with him in this. Almost no one from the team came to the twenty-first birthday of the actress. The result is an Oscar nomination and a huge career leap, although the nerves and anxiety reflected on the screen were not a game.