The Art of Transformation – How Far Actors Go for Performance

With Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar being one of the biggest movies of the year it’s fair to say that it has been a very successful few years for Matthew McConaughey.  Winning an Oscar Award last year for Dallas Buyers Club highlights something that interests me with acting though, the transformations that actors are willing to go through to find that character they are portraying and to truly become them.

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As Ron Woodroof he plays an HIV positive man who has to fight the system to get the drugs that will help him battle the disease in the best way possible.  What was striking about the role was the change in McConaughey’s physical appearance, especially in comparison to appearance in Magic Mike where he played a male stripper who of course had a much more muscular appearance.  This change in his physique was arguably one of the most striking changes seen, but should (and did not) overshadow the actual acting performance which was excellent.

When looking at this type of change there is a president, an example of this can be seen in Christian Bale’s performance in The Machinist.  Contrast that look with his bulking up for Batman Begins and you see once again the stark change an actor goes through for his performance.  While it was not an Oscar winning it was still one of his most memorable roles.

Such transformations aren’t just achieved by male stars though, as some of the best female actors have also changed their appearance drastically for their art.  Two of that stand out for me would be Hilary Swank and Charlize Theron.  With Swank, her role for Boys Don’t Cry see her in play Brandon Teena in a performance that not only caught people’s attention, but was also one of the best of her career.  Based on actual events it focuses on how Teena was born a woman but takes the brave decision to adopt a male identity to find who he truly is and find within himself happiness.  This leads to tragic results when the truth is discovered and Swank’s performance is both memorable and heart-breaking, as is the film.  Highlighting many things we should all think about in a world that can be truly evil to things some don’t understand, it achieved its aim of raising awareness, and Swank’s performance went a long way to achieving that.  The Oscar she won was something very well deserved and shows the importance of the role in her career.

 

Charlize Theron’s transformation also led to an Oscar win with the excellent Monster, which looked at the life of Aileen Wuornos.  Looking at the life of a serial killer and putting a humanity into the role is a tricky thing to do.  To understand the motives of the character though you do have to look at what created the monster inside.  Theron totally changed her appearance for the film becoming almost unrecognisable to how we usually see the star.  She arguably put everything she had into the role and this is a perfect example of stars who are willing to put their body through changes for the performance they have to find within themselves.  It’s not all about makeup, but a complete transformation of who the person actually is and for the audience to fully buy into the role.

Looking at some of the other more recent transformations we see in movies of course we can’t ignore what Jennifer Lawrence has done with the character of Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games 3. Although her transformation is more an evolution of Katniss growing up there is still a transformation there.  Even with the slight changes in stance and personality she adapts from being just a contender fighting for her life to an actual ruler of a rebel force fighting for the good of the people.

Whether these transformations are safe for the actor is something up for debate.  People like Matthew McConaughey and Christian Bale for example are risking health issues when affecting their weight so drastically in such a short time.  Other examples of this are Jared Leto who put on weight for his performance as Mark David Chapman in Chapter 27, only to lose it again after his performance.  Our bodies are not made to undergo such changes in such little time, so is it worth it?

Award winning or not, these men and women put their bodies on the line for the performances they give, and you can’t help admire them for what they push themselves and their bodies to, hopefully though they don’t damage their health in the process.  Actors arguably transform into their character whether it is just personality or also appearance.  Are the performances more striking the bigger the transformation? I guess the award givers would argue they are, but it is an interesting thing to ponder.

 

 

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