{"id":40733,"date":"2016-03-21T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-03-21T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/what-actors-have-done-to-prepare-for-role\/"},"modified":"2016-03-21T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2016-03-21T00:00:00","slug":"what-actors-have-done-to-prepare-for-role","status":"publish","type":"sermon-illustrations","link":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/what-actors-have-done-to-prepare-for-role\/","title":{"rendered":"What Actors Have Done to Prepare for a Role"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>For her role in <em class=\"citation\">Black Swan<\/em>, Natalie Portman trained with New York City Ballet dancer Mary Helen Bowers for eight hours a day, six days a week for the 12 months before the film started shooting.<\/p>\n\n<p>For his role in <em class=\"citation\">My Left Foot<\/em>, Daniel Day-Lewis interacted with disabled patients at the Sanymount School Clinic in Dublin, Ireland. Between takes during filming, he remained in his wheelchair and was spoon-fed and carried around by the crew.<\/p>\n\n<p>For his role in <em class=\"citation\">The Revenant<\/em>, Leonardo DiCaprio plunged in and out of icy rivers, ate raw buffalo meat, and slept in a simulated horse carcass.<\/p>\n\n<p>For his role in the film <em class=\"citation\">Fury<\/em>, Shia LeBeouf trained with the U.S. National Guard and was a chaplain&#39;s assistant in the 41st Infantry. During the filming, he didn&#39;t bathe for 4 months.<\/p>\n\n<p>To better imitate Ray Charles, Jamie Foxx wore prosthetic eyelids, leaving him blind for most of each day. Occasionally, he was inadvertently left alone on a set, the crew forgetting he was blind. He also learned all the piano parts and lost 30 pounds in one week for the role.<\/p>\n\n<p>For her role as Fantine in <em class=\"citation\">Les Mis&eacute;rables<\/em>, Anne Hathaway shaved her head, lost 25 pounds and subsisted on a daily diet of two thin squares of dried oatmeal paste.<\/p>\n\n<p>To play a drug addict in <em class=\"citation\">Jungle Fever<\/em>, Halle Berry visited a real crack den and got to know the addicts. During filming, she abstained from bathing for ten days.<\/p>\n\n<p>In his role for <em class=\"citation\">The Pianist<\/em>, Adrien Brody familiarized himself with despair and hunger. He moved to Europe, bringing only two suitcases of personal belongings and living a meager lifestyle. He lost 30 pounds and took piano and dialect lessons. Brody said: &quot;There is an emptiness that comes with really starving that I hadn&#39;t experienced. I couldn&#39;t have acted that without knowing it. I&#39;ve experienced loss, I&#39;ve experienced sadness in my life, but I didn&#39;t know the desperation that comes with hunger.&quot;<\/p>","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"template":"","tax_ctp_audience":[],"tax_ctp_authors":[],"tax_ctp_categories":[165],"tax_ctp_format":[171],"tax_ctp_illustration_types":[411],"tax_ctp_multimedia":[],"tax_ctp_point_editor":[],"tax_publications":[140],"tax_ctp_tags":[3640,3749,3776,3782,3793,3794,3847,3909,4104,4676,4696,4882,4916,5043,5049,5063,5120,5293,5316],"tax_ctp_topics":[],"class_list":["post-40733","sermon-illustrations","type-sermon-illustrations","status-publish","hentry","tax_publications-ct-pastors","tax_ctp_tags-commitment","tax_ctp_tags-dedication","tax_ctp_tags-devotion","tax_ctp_tags-diligence","tax_ctp_tags-discipleship","tax_ctp_tags-discipline","tax_ctp_tags-effort","tax_ctp_tags-excellence","tax_ctp_tags-growth","tax_ctp_tags-practice","tax_ctp_tags-preparation","tax_ctp_tags-sanctification","tax_ctp_tags-self-discipline","tax_ctp_tags-spiritual-discipline","tax_ctp_tags-spiritual-growth","tax_ctp_tags-spiritual-transformation","tax_ctp_tags-talents","tax_ctp_tags-work","tax_ctp_tags-zeal"],"acf":{"scripture_references":[{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null}]},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>What Actors Have Done to Prepare for a Role - CT Pastors<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/what-actors-have-done-to-prepare-for-role\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What Actors Have Done to Prepare for a Role - CT Pastors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"For her role in Black Swan, Natalie Portman trained with New York City Ballet dancer Mary Helen Bowers for eight hours a day, six days a week for the 12 months before the film started shooting. 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