What’s going on Youtube, I’m your host Joce and welcome back to Top 10 Beyond The
Screen.
Hangout with me until the end of this video and I’ll respond to some comments.
If you’re new here hit that subscribe button and turn on notifications so you don’t miss
another video!
Today I’m doing a part 2 video on a subject you guys really liked to see and one that
I really liked to film.
It’s crazy to read about what some actors will do for their career.
Some go to insane lengths to transform their bodies for a role, while others injure themselves
for one, and still follow through with it.
Some will see it as dedication while other’s will see it as completely insanity.
Today I’m sharing the Top 10 Actors Who Permanently Damaged Their Bodies For Movie
Roles- Part 2!
10) Starting off our list at number 10 is Matthew McConaughey in the movie Dallas Buyers
Club.
The drama history movie that came out in 2014 had McConaughey playing a Texan horse rider
who was diagnosed with HIV and given 30 days to live.
After being nominated an Oscar for his incredible performance, he opened about the side effects
he’s had after the drastic weight loss he did for the role.
He shed a total of 47lbs, which is a lot when you’re not a big guy to begin with.
He confessed that he chewed a lot of ice on set while filming so that he could remain
that thin throughout the movie; it was a distraction from eating real food.
He lost the 47lbs in just 4 months and says that by the end of filming his body was withering
away.
He said he lost energy from the neck down but found he had a lot of energy neck up,
saying he only needed 3 hours of sleep or less a day.
He was very alert, almost hyper, but his body itself had no energy.
You can imagine what a few hours of sleep a night and minimal calories will do to one’s
body.
McConaughey says he wanted to portray his character in the most realistic way possible
and that he’s very proud of his performance regardless of the side effects.
He went to a nutritionist afterwards to help with his recovery.
9) In at number 9 we have Norman Reedus, known for his incredible work in the TV show The
Walking Dead.
He plays Daryl Dixon who has the reputation of a badass throughout the series, but he
told People’s Choice that he’s actually kind of a wimp.
He admits to having an impressive list of injuries while filming, some being as small
as a black eye, to as big as slicing his arm open.
He said that a black eye came from the crossbow we see him using throughout every episode.
He was running through a doorway with his crossbow and he hit it on the door frame,
causing the bow to hit him in the face giving him a black eye.
Ouch.
But it was in the show’s 5th season that he sliced his arm open, badly.
Apparently it happened during one of his favorite scenes and they caught the whole thing on
tape, but obviously it didn’t make it into the show.
It was a scene where some of the cast was barricading a barn door to keep the zombie
walkers out.
His co-stars said they say his arm completely open, seeing his bone, and blood started pouring
out.
He had sliced through a tendon.
I can only imagine how hard it would be to work with a crossbow every day after damaging
your arm like that; it was almost impossible for his arm to fully heal until filming was
over and it could heal.
Not too long after the incident did he slice open his hand on one of the vending machines
on set, and not a slice that’s the size of a paper cut, another nasty one.
Either he’s just clumsy or he has really bad luck.
8) Sliding into number 8 we have Michelle Yeoh in the movie Crouching Tiger, Hidden
Dragon; the drama fantasy that came out in 2000.
She’s known to be a legendary martial arts actress, and she sure had her work cut out
with her when it came to the demanding fight choreography in this movie.
When shooting one fight sequence, her knee gave out.
She soldiered through it and continued with shooting, but it was later revealed that she
had actually tore a tendon in her knee.
Her injury was so bad it required surgery and months of physical therapy.
She says that she is recovered now but that it’s impossible to recover 100% from an
injury like that; her future work will all be affected.
We gotta give props to actors who don’t use stunt doubles.
7) Taking the number 7 spot is Daniel Day Lewis from the movie There Will Be Blood;
the drama history that came out in 2007.
He’s known for having method acting insanity due to the amount of injuries he’s gone
through for movies.
For the movie The Boxer, he trained intensely for 3 years which resulted in a broken nose
and a herniated disc, and while filming gangs of New York he almost died of pneumonia because
he refused medical treatment.
Those movies alone are enough to have an impact on the human body, but his biggest injury
to date was while shooting a scene in There Will Be Blood.
In the beginning of the movie, he is seen daggering for silver down a California mine
shaft that is 50 feet down.
Turns out while he was filming, he fell down the shaft, sending him to the hospital for
a broken rib, a bruised up body, and a concussion.
I don’t know if any movie is falling down a 50ft mine shaft; his director said that
he’s lucky he’s not dead.
6) In at number 6 we have Christian Bale for the Machinist.
The thriller drama that came out in 2004 and followed the story of a man Trevor Reznik,
who sufferes from severe insomnia and psychological issues that lead to an accident.
It ultimately leads him in a downward spiral of paranoia and delusion.
In order to portray the character the way he wanted, he shed 62lbs before filming.
While doing an interview with The Guardian, Bale explained that it wasn’t the process
of losing weight that was hard, but the effect it had on him physically and emotionally.
He said he was so skinny he could barely walk up a flight of stairs; he felt like he completely
abandoned his body.
It was like a roller coaster ride once he started adding food back into his stomach
properly; it completely rejected it.
He was literally a walking skeleton; that’s some serious body damage, and most of it we
don’t even see.
Imagine how that infects everything inside his body not just his weight.
5) Half way through the list at number 5 we have Kristin Chenoweth for her role in The
Good Wife, which you’d never expect to be a place of a possible death.
In 2012, during one of her days of filming, an overhead lighting rig fell on her in what
people called a freak accident.
She was rushed to Bellevue Hospital in New York City where they found a 5-inch skull
fracture.
When the accident originally happened she wanted to continue on with the show but she
could barely put sentences together.
She was ultimately forced to leave the show to concentrate on her recovery and physical
therapy.
She continued on with her acting career after some healing; talk about dedication, and over
the next few years she found that more medical issues appeared in her ribs, hips, and neck.
She even found out she had 3 cracked teeth that she never even noticed when the accident
first happened.
She still continues to commit herself to roles and her career, even though she’s still
recovering from the accident and all the damage it caused.
4) Coming in at number 4 is Linda Blair from the legendary movie The Exorcist.
She was known for her childhood role as the possessed Regan, but she said she’s never
been the same since she starred in the film.
During one of the possession scenes, Blair had to be violently trashed around on a levitating
bed.
While filming the scene, there was a mechanical failure which ended up giving her a fracture
in her spine.
There is some screen test clips from the exact scene that you can find online, and are pretty
creepy to watch.
Her fractured spine was bad enough but later down the road it developed into scoliosis.
Even 10 years after the film’s release she said she was still suffering from chronic
pain.
She began to see a chiropractor to help straighten her spine and restore spinal mobility.
You think that would be enough to take a break from acting right?
Turns out after this first injury, she injured her back again when she flipped a motorcycle
during the filming of another movie.
Man, some people just don’t know when to quit!
3) In at number 3 we have Tippie Hendren from The Birds.
If you haven’t seen the 1963 horror movie, let’s just say it involves a lot of birds:
mean, vengeful, human attacking birds.
Apparently they used real birds on set too that weren’t properly trained.
During one of the scenes in a bedroom, the blonde actress was attacked by a huge flock
of evil birds.
While filming the scene, she fractured one of her legs and had severe scalp wounds.
As if those injuries weren’t enough, she kept filming after healing and was later on
injured when a gallon of water fell from above (at 40km per hour) and left her with a concussion
and severe headaches for several years.
She was awarded 1.5 million dollars in damages by a court after the accident occurred in
the sound stage.
Once again, another actor that continued to act and devote herself to her role and other
future roles as well.
2) Okay guys, at number 2 we have Melanie Griffith from the movie Roar, which was titled
as one of the most dangerous movies ever made, if not the MOST dangerous.
The movie used real jungle cats and other animals while filming the film, many which
were blamed for harming some of the cast and crew.
Speaking of Tippi Hendren, she actually made the film back in the late 70’s and casted
some of her own family including her daughter, Melanie Griffith.
Small world.
During one of the scenes, Melanie’s face was completely mauled by one of the lions.
She was rushed to the hospital where she had to have reconstructive plastic surgery done.
They all continued filming regardless of injuries because Tippie and her Husband were betting
everything on the success of the film; they even sold their family home to fund it.
Sorry mom and dad, but if a Lion mangles my face there’s no way I’m still acting in
your movie.
That’s just insane.
There is now a documentary of the making of the movie where you can see pictures and footage
of the injury.
1) Here we are at number 1 with George Clooney for his role in Syriana.
His injury while filming was so bad that it had the actor contemplating suicide, so he
said.
The accident happened during a scene where Clooney’s character was getting beaten up.
He was tied to a chair which happened to get pushed over, causing him to hit his head.
Seems like just a little bump but it actually bruised his brain in the process.
It was so bad that spinal fluid was leaking from his nose.
He had several different operations done before the pain subsided.
Not only a fractured skull but it also left him with an injured spine, where he went through
different surgeries and medications for.
The aftermath of the injury left Clooney with constant pain and headaches that were so brutal
he debated, and I quote, “Well, you’ll have to kill yourself at some point.
You can’t live like this”.
He ended up turning to pain therapy to relieve some of his symptoms.
He continued on with his acting and this role is what won him an Oscar; but I still don’t
think it’s worth it in my opinion.
Well, there it is guys, the part 2 list of actors who permanently damaged their bodies
for a movie role.
It just goes to show what some people will do for their acting role.
Let me know in the comments what you think and you might get a shoutout in my next video.
For now, let’s check out some comments from some of my other videos.
Lego World says: more ruined childhood memories, just what I like.
Always love your content and keep making more.
- - that’s what I’m here for.
Ruining one childhood at a time!
Ultraviolence tv says: This comment will be in the next video - - you were right ;)
Fw1421 says: It’s stupid to harm yourself for a role.
Is the money really worth it? - - not to me it’s not… but apparently to some people?
Alright, I’m taking off.
Leave your thoughts in the comments below and subscribe before you go!
I’m your host Joce and I’ll see ya next time!