Actors Who Were Affected By The Roles They Played

Hollywood is famous for its high-quality films that draw large audiences, thanks in part to renowned actors and actresses who take on challenging roles.

Actors often go the extra mile to fully immerse themselves in their roles for a film, but this dedication can have a significant impact on their mental and physical well-being, especially when dealing with intense characters. Even after filming wraps up, transitioning back to normal life and letting go of these characters can be a challenging process.

Anne Hathaway shared her struggle to get back to "normal" after her role in "Les Misérables."

Anne Hathaway underwent a physical transformation for her role as the dying Fantine in "Les Misérables," which also affected her emotionally.

To portray the dying sex worker, Anne lost 25 pounds through a strict cleanse and nearly starving herself. Many of her scenes were emotionally taxing, including moments where her hair was cut, her teeth were pulled, and she faced an assault.

"I had to be obsessive about it -- the idea was to look near death. Looking back on the whole experience -- and I don't judge it in any way -- it was definitely a little nuts…I was in such a state of deprivation -- physical and emotional. When I got home, I couldn't react to the chaos of the world without being overwhelmed. It took me weeks till I felt like myself again," Anne shared with Vogue.

Dakota Johnson said Suspira “f**ked her up”

Dakota Johnson is best known for portraying Anastasia Steele in the "Fifty Shades of Grey" trilogy, but a different role prompted her to seek therapy.

In 2018, Johnson starred as Susie Bannion in Luca Guadagnino's remake of "Suspiria." The film follows Susie to a Berlin dance academy run by witches, leading to a gruesome supernatural journey.

In an interview with Elle in April 2018, Johnson stated that the movie "f***ed [her] up so much that [she] had to go to therapy."

She expanded on that during a press conference at the Venice Film Festival (via Entertainment Weekly), saying, "When you're working sometimes with dark subject matter, it can stay with you ... to talk to somebody really nice about it afterwards is a really nice way to move on from the project." She also complimented her therapist, calling her "a really nice woman.”

While she went to therapy after filming, Johnson did share that the experience of making the film itself was not difficult for her. "It was the most fun and the most exhilarating and the most joyful that it could be," the actress explained.

"It wasn't that this film sent me to a ward, I just have a lot of feelings."

Sarah Paulson caught onto smoking after filming "American Crime Story: The People vs. O.J. Simpson."

Paulson was not a chain smoker in real life, but she fully embraced her role as attorney Marcia Clark. In an interview with Stephen Colbert, she said that she got hooked.

"When we first started, I was coughing a lot," Paulson explained. "But then eventually … I was ready for a smoke. It got me a little crazy for the ciggies."

Michael B. Jordan's feelings needed unpacking after Black Panther

Michael B. Jordan debuted on "The Sopranos" in 1999 and later starred in the "Creed" films and "Friday Night Lights." His role as Erik Killmonger in "Black Panther" is one of his most popular roles — but also one that led him to seek therapy.

Jordan talked about having a hard time adjusting after finishing the film. He found that taking time to "unpack" his thoughts helped him change his perspective. He had trouble accepting love because he pushed it away while preparing for his role. However, over time and with therapy, he was able to move on from playing Killmonger.

"I didn't have an escape plan. It was a little tough for me at first…Readjusting to people caring about me, getting that love that I shut out. I shut out love, I didn't want love. I wanted to be in this lonely place as long as I could…I went to therapy, I started talking to people, starting unpacking a little bit," Michael told Oprah during a "SuperSoul Conversations" special.

He said that seeing a therapist "helped me out a lot," despite the criticism men face about receiving mental health treatment.

“Your mind is so powerful. Your mind will get your body past a threshold that it would have given up on way before,” Jordan said. “Honestly, therapy, just talking to somebody just helped me out a lot. As a man you get a lot of slack for it. … I don’t really subscribe to that. Everyone needs to unpack and talk.”

Pennywise the clown haunted Bill Skarsgård dream long after he finished filming.

Skarsgård's portrayal of the evil clown in the Stephen King classic affected his mental health, causing the character to haunt his dreams even after filming. He told Entertainment Weekly that portraying the evil clown lead to the character showing up in his dreams every night, even post-filming.

"I was home, done with the movie, and I started having very strange and vivid Pennywise dreams. Every night, he came and visited. It was in the shape of either me dealing with him, sort of Pennywise as a separate entity of me, and then also me as Pennywise in circumstances that I didn't appreciate. Like, I'm Pennywise and I'm really upset that I'm out in public and people are looking at me."

"After we wrapped, I was in my childhood home in Sweden, sitting having coffee with my mom at our kitchen table, and realized, 'Oh, holy s---, I don't have to deal with this relationship anymore!' It was a very quick shift of just feeling better, like, 'Oh my God, I'm relieved that I don't have to deal with the darkness of the character.' I likened it to an exorcism – him exiting my body and getting rid of the Pennywise toxins," he told Entertainment Weekly.

Natalie Portman says her role in Black Swan almost killed her

Natalie Portman is celebrated for her Oscar-winning performance in Black Swan as Nina Sayers, a perfectionist ballerina. To prepare, she trained rigorously, lost 20 pounds, and suffered injuries, including a concussion. Portman says that her role in Black Swan nearly killed her.

“It was the first time I understood how you could get so wrapped up in a role that it could take you down,” she told Entertainment Weekly. “There were some nights when I literally thought I was going to die.”

Kumail Nanjiani went to therapy over negative Eternals reviews

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has its hits and misses, with "Eternals" earning a poor 47% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Actor Kumail Nanjiani, who played Kingo, revealed in a podcast interview that the negative reviews prompted him to start therapy.

While the actor was hopeful that the movie would open many doors for him, thanks to the notable director and talented cast, the harsh reviews hit him hard. "The reviews were bad, and I was too aware of it," Nanjiani shared.

"I was reading every review and checking too much." Nanjiani started to go to therapy as a result because he felt that it was taking a toll on both him and his wife to be so wrapped up in his work that way.

Alex Wolff said “Hereditary” was a tough job.

In Hereditary, actor Alex Wolff revealed that playing Peter Graham, who accidentally kills his sister and becomes possessed, led to sleep loss and psychological distress.

Wolff shared that the Toni Collette-led project impacted his mental health, "That movie did about as much damage to me as a movie can do," the actor said. “...We have a cushy job in a lot of ways, but this, emotionally, it was one of those tough ones."

Considering the horrific content of the movie and what Wolff had to do in it, including banging his head into a desk repeatedly, it's no surprise the film impacted his mental health.

Wolff commented to Vice that he doesn't "think [someone] can go through something like this and not have some sort of PTSD afterwards," especially considering he would "absorb the pain and let it burn" for any negative emotion he felt during production.

Isabelle Adjani would never attempt another movie like “Posession”

Isabelle Adjani’s performance in Possession highlights Anna's duality as a sweet schoolteacher and a maniacal ex-wife, embodying female rage and hysteria in this horror film about divorce.

Although Adjani won two Best Actress awards for this role, one at Cannes Film Festival, and the other at the Cesar Awards, she also suffered post-traumatic stress from it.

The actress reportedly attempted suicide after watching the film. Adjani revealed in an interview that she underwent years of therapy to cope with her role as Anna and vowed never to take on a similar role again due to the psychological distress it caused her.

Adjani called the film "psychological pornography." She felt it looked too deeply into the soul in an inappropriate way. Years later, she said she would never allow a director to disrespect her like that again.

"Possession is only the type of film you can do when you are young. [Zulawski] is a director that makes you sink into his world of darkness and his demons. It is okay when you are young, because you are excited to go there. His movies are very special, but they totally focus on women, as if they are lilies. It was quite an amazing film to do, but I got bruised, inside out. It was exciting to do. It was no bones broken, but it was like, 'How or why did I do that?' I don't think any other actress ever did two films with him."