The best actors often infuse their characters with facets of their own personalities.
Sure, that can lead to better performances overall - but it can also lead to emotionally
draining scenes and, in some cases, identity crises for actors who dove a little too deep
into their characters.
"Jake, I don't know who I am anymore!"
Justice Smith in The Get Down
The Get Down might have fallen victim to its own massive budget and co-creator Baz Luhrmann's
busy schedule, but the show's portrayal of the birth of hip-hop - and its depiction of
a mythical New York City - was a delight while it lasted.
The show's intense commitment to world-building was also reflected in the actors, who practiced
choreography on set in a reconstructed Queens neighborhood, and even involved some of the
actors wearing period-appropriate underwear.
"Yeah.
You can go too, if you need to, man."
"No.
No.
If I'm gonna rhyme, I need a beat.
One that don't retire just 'cause Ma's making Rice-a-Roni with the real cheese and the chili
ground meat."
As series lead Ezekiel Brown, actor Justice Smith committed to the role with gusto for
the long hours of filming.
Unfortunately, that dedication to craft ended up taking an emotional toll on the young actor
when his method acting techniques started to erase the distinction between himself and
the character he was playing.
Smith told Vulture:
"The lines get blurred and you're like, 'What is me and what is the character?
Am I really like this or is that just him?'
My biggest fear was, 'What if I don't come back?
What if I don't return to who I am?'"
Dean Norris in Breaking Bad
In season 3 of AMC's dark drama Breaking Bad, Walter White's DEA brother-in-law Hank is
nearly shot to death, and he winds up crippled for part of the next season.
The character's former upbeat attitude and macho dialogue is replaced with sullen glares,
moody silences, and a frankly stank outlook.
"Hank."
"I leave this hospital when I walk outta here, you understand?
And not before."
This continues episode after episode.
Oh - and that mineral collection…
GOD that mineral collection…
Actor Dean Norris found himself increasingly enveloped in the newly grim outlook of his
character, which necessitated weeks of filming for the arc.
According to Entertainment Weekly, Norris admitted:
"You are constantly dark for 15‑hour days, being just depressed as a character and being
mean to my [onscreen] wife.
I was just constantly in this kind of pissed-off mood.
[The] whole Season 4 for me was not pleasant."
Still, Norris' dedication to his craft paid off in the long run.
Afterall, if Hank never took time off to recover from his injuries, we wouldn't have comedic
gems like this.
"Did you check them for damage?"
"They're rocks, Hank."
"No, they're minerals.
Jesus, Marie.
I got some geodes coming that are very delicate, alright?"
Laverne Cox in Orange Is the New Black
While Orange Is the New Black might have its comedic moments, it's also never shied away
from the deeply unpleasant realities of imprisonment and sexism.
Following a group of women imprisoned in a women's correctional facility, the show features
the various intersections between race, class, gender, and sexuality.
In season 3, a feud finds Sophia, a trans woman, sent to solitary confinement ostensibly
for her own protection after a violent attack.
"Jesus, Burset.
Why do you have to make everything so hard?"
"No offense, but f--- you.
Sir."
Actress Laverne Cox, herself transgender, admitted that although the storyline was important
to showcase, it was deeply upsetting to film.
She told Vulture:
"When I read this episode, I was just in tears.
I bawled reading it because it was deeply triggering for me […] As trans people of
color, there's so many different layers of that.
So the trauma of that was just very real and raw for me."
Jack Gleeson in Game of Thrones
There are plenty of loathsome villains in the history of television, but very few have
been quite as young and quite as twisted as King Joffrey on Game of Thrones.
Even among a cast full of violent monsters, the young king stood out as a truly repugnant
and sadistic character.
"I won't hurt him.
Much."
Actor Jack Gleeson seems to be as kind-hearted as his character is not, since he's gone on
record as feeling very conflicted over the violent acts committed in the show.
As Gleeson said in an interview with Rolling Stone:
"You tend to abstract yourself from the creepiness of it when you're playing it, but when you
see it on television, it sends shivers down my spine […] I would like to try and defend
him, but I would have a pretty hard job doing it."
Gleeson even retired from acting after his time on the show ended - and while we're sad
to see the young and promising actor fade from the field, we never get tired of watching
his character's "retirement."
Krysten Ritter in Jessica Jones
While Krysten Ritter's got a bit of a knack for playing self-destructive characters like
Chloe on Don't Don't Trust the B-- in Apartment 23 or Jane in Breaking Bad, her performance
in Marvel's Jessica Jones is arguably one of her best.
The show follows the titular superpowered private detective as she struggles with trauma
in a world of unbreakable men and manipulative monsters.
Playing a character that deals with such dark experiences required Ritter to really invest
herself in Jessica Jones' loneliness, which involved a difficult transition.
Ritter told the Los Angeles Times:
"It definitely takes a toll because I'm more bubbly and alive and zestful and I like to
have a good time.
So after a while, you're like, 'Oh my God, I'm getting really depressed.
And I just had to move across the country, so I'm in an apartment that doesn't have my
furniture.
I'm not around my friends.
I spent a lot of time walking around doing the scenes by myself in my apartment."
Yeah, that sounds like a real bummer - but, hey, if Ritter's self-imposed isolation led
to her performance as the ever-badass Jessica Jones, then it may have all been worth it
in the end.
"Smile."
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