Some actors commit to the role they are given with a certain amount of grit. It is not unheard of for committed actors to go all out and physically alter their bodies for the roles they are chosen for. Such is the case with Rooney Mara, for the film The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.
The Nightmare Alley actress not only augmented her body but also got tattoos and piercings to emulate the character more accurately, as she is depicted in the source material, a novel of the same name by Stieg Larson.
Rooney Mara lost a lot of weight for the role
Mara had a lot on her plate when the character was given to her. The alterations to her body were numerous, including piercings, hair huts, and tattoos, a lot of which Mara got done herself, for authenticity and the sake of the source material. However, the tattoos and piercings were an important part of the acting process. Speaking to Allure, the actress said:
“Because of all the tattoos and the makeup and the piercings, and the physical transformations my body has to go through, it would always feel sort of like I was in costume. “
The extreme alterations contributed to the actor’s perception of the character, allowing her to embrace the role and act it out more authentically. After all, this secured Mara an Oscar Nomination, competing with brilliant and groundbreaking talent such as Mery Streep, nominated for The Iron Lady, Viola Davis, who starred in The Help, and Michelle Williams who starred in My Week with Marilyn.
A lot of actors resort to altering their bodies for roles they are given
Mara is not the first actress to put herself through a punishing regiment to get her body in a shape that is more desirable for the character. While Mara had a book to go off of to model her look, plenty of other actors have gone the extra mile just for authenticity’s sake. Christian Bale infamously dropped 63 pounds to play the character of Trevor Reznik, an insomniac in the film The Machinist. Another pretty shocking example of an extreme alteration was Chris Hemsworth’s in The Hear of the Sea, who lost 15 pounds while actively shooting for the period piece. And sometimes, it’s not just about losing weight. Vincent D’Onofrio reportedly gained 60 pounds for the film Full Metal Jacket and even shaved his hair.
Such drastic alterations to the bodies of actors, especially in the case of actors like Christian Bale, opened up conversations about bodily health among actors in Hollywood. While actors like Natalie Portman (for Black Swan) and Christian Bale reduce their diets to increasingly dangerous levels, others choose to upset their body’s metabolism by gaining weight. While alterations to hairstyles might not have such drastic effects, it does make one wonder about the state of actors in the often-considered glamorous world of Hollywood.
