The Most Disturbing Things Movie Villain Stars Have Done For Their Roles

Villains do the most dastardly things. It's expected of them, of course. However, what happens when the actor in question goes over the acting line to move the needle of believability for their character even further? They become what's known as an HR nightmare for any ordinary company. Hollywood, though, operates on its own principles and rules, serving as a haven for irrationality where people get away with the most ludicrous of behaviors.

While most people think Jared Leto could fill an entire list because of him sending rats, dead pigs, and anal beads to co-stars in an effort to transform into a method actor on David Ayer's "Suicide Squad," this isn't actually about that. What Leto did on the set of that film was weird and inappropriate, but not as disturbing as some of the other examples discussed below. However, if Leto had actually tattooed "damaged" on his forehead or pulled out his real teeth to get a silver grill to match his Joker character, he may have found a comfy spot here.

From eating maggots and cockroaches to putting another actor in the ICU, let's take a look at the most frightening things actors have done for their villainous roles. Be warned — some of these may make readers a little queasy and green around the gills.

Michelle Pfeiffer purrs as Selina Kyle in Tim Burton's "Batman Returns." From the way she struts to how she changes her voice's register, she embodies the seductiveness of Catwoman in the movie and became the definitive version of the character on screen. In The Hollywood Reporter's 25-year anniversary piece about the film, Burton praised Pfeiffer's performance. He also revealed that no CGI went into the infamous scene where Catwoman and the Penguin (Danny DeVito) meet up to put their plans in motion and the Cat proceeds to put a bird in her mouth. The director explained how the bird was completely real and how Pfeiffer actually put the creature in her mouth for a brief moment before releasing it.

Pfeiffer also addressed the scene. In retrospect, though, she was more shocked than impressed by her actions. "I look back and say, 'What was I thinking? I could've gotten a disease or something from having a live bird in my mouth,'" she said. "It seemed fine at the time. I don't think the bird was drugged or anything. We did that scene in one take."

Pfeiffer was a last-minute replacement for Annette Bening, who had to forfeit the role after becoming pregnant in the lead-up to production. One has to wonder if Bening would have put a live bird in her mouth for the sake of her art too.

Dan Gilroy's "Nightcrawler" introduces a side of Jake Gyllenhaal as an actor that the audience hadn't seen until 2014. In the film, he portrays Lou Bloom, who decides to enter the world of freelance photojournalism. He chases down accident scenes to get exclusive footage and even orchestrates a few of his own "stories" to sell. Needless to say, a night with Lou is about as pleasant as being locked in a cage with a hungry Velociraptor.

To prepare for the role, Gyllenhaal took a page out of the method acting playbook by losing an excessive amount of weight and hanging out with the paparazzi chasing ambulances to gain insight. However, there's a scene where he took his enthusiasm for the part a tad too far. It occurs when Lou stares at himself in the mirror — he lets out a frightening scream before slamming the mirror door. When the door comes back around, he punches and breaks the glass. One source close to the production told People that Gyllenhaal actually lost control here to get into character. He ended up cutting his hand and required stitches at a nearby hospital.

In a later interview on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show," Gyllenhaal confirmed he overdid it with the mirror and joked he only "looked at it real hard" before admitting to striking it and receiving a scar for his efforts. Nonetheless, the scene made it into the final cut.

Leonardo DiCaprio built a reputation as an actor who is willing to go to extreme lengths for his craft. For example, he slept inside an animal carcass for his Oscar-winning performance in Alejandro González Iñárritu's "The Revenant." For Quentin Tarantino's "Django Unchained," DiCaprio bled for his role as Calvin Candie — quite literally.

The injury transpires in the scene where Candie goes off on a racist rant around the dining room table. He slams his hand down on the table and cuts his hand on a glass. Candie continues to gesticulate and speak as his hand turns into a crimson mess. DiCaprio never breaks character here, though, leaving everyone to believe this was a practical effort or a dash of movie magic.

Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, DiCaprio revealed it was all too real. "My hand started really pouring blood all over the table," he said. "Maybe they thought it was done with special effects. I wanted to keep going. It was more interesting to watch Quentin's and Jamie's reaction off-camera than to look at my hand." The actor received an ovation from the cast and crew once the camera cut, and he gave permission for Tarantino to use this bloody scene in the film.

Shia LaBeouf's on- and off-screen behavior has been the subject of much debate. After all, he removed his own tooth for his role in David Ayer's 2014 war film "Fury," and there were stories of him and Tom Hardy slugging it out on the set of John Hillcoat's "Lawless." LaBeouf teamed up with Ayer once again for the 2020 action movie "The Tax Collector," where the actor portrays Creeper — a gangster's tax collector who isn't afraid to inflict horrendous amounts of punishment on those whom he believes need to pay up.

Creeper also boasts an intricately designed chest tattoo that has his name sprawled across his stomach — Ayer certainly likes his characters to be inked, that's for sure. Now, while most viewers would imagine this to be a temporary tattoo or for the make-up artist to paint on every morning, LaBeouf decided to make everyone's lives (except, arguably, his own) easier here. He had the design tattooed permanently on himself, as revealed by tattoo artist Bryan Ramirez on Instagram.

Ayer had nothing but praise for LaBeouf's desire to go the extra mile, telling /Film: "He's one of the best actors I've worked with, and he's the most committed to body and soul. He had a tooth pulled on 'Fury,' and then on 'Tax Collector,' he got his whole chest tattooed. So he kind of goes all in, and I've never known anyone that committed."

Dolph Lundgren is built like a real-life superhero. When he started acting in films in the 1980s, he didn't need a padded suit or CG enhancements to his body, since he had the size and strength to pose a serious physical threat to anyone who stepped up to him. His role as Ivan Drago in "Rocky IV" proves to be equally convincing as he poses a legitimate challenge to the boxing champ Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone). Any coach would advise Balboa to duck and dodge Drago until he tires and to get in his jabs for points that way; however, that doesn't make for an interesting movie. Much like any "Rocky" movie, there needs to be moments where Drago lands his punches and reels the hero.

Stallone prided himself on making the boxing as authentic as possible in the film series. As a result, he encouraged the actors to trade real punches. Yet he may have underestimated the power that Lundgren possessed in his fists. In preparation for their big face-off, he told Lundgren to hit him as hard as he could, and his co-star obliged — holding nothing back. While Stallone was fine during the rest of the rehearsal, he felt unwell in the evening and landed up in ICU for nine days with heart complications from the blows.

Speaking about the incident to Invicta Fighting Championship, Lundgren said, "All I did was obey orders. He was the boss. I did what he told me."

"The Deer Hunter" director Michael Cimino famously said how Robert De Niro insisted on real bullets being used during the film's Russian roulette scene. It isn't completely out of character for the actor, though, as he is known for pushing the limits for his roles. However, he may have done a real (painful) number on himself for Martin Scorsese's "Cape Fear."

When the The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts honored De Niro in 2009, it mentioned how he fully engrossed himself in his characters, even grinding down his teeth for the role of the antagonistic Max Cady in "Cape Fear." The story goes that the actor wanted a more menacing look for Max, so he paid a dentist a few thousand dollars to file down his teeth. After the film was completed, he found another dentist to fix them.

Lucky for De Niro, there weren't reshoots required, or he may have been forced to file down his teeth over and over again. Alternatively, he could have just used prosthetics and saved himself some money from the get-go.

Before anyone thinks Tony Todd removed his real hand to put a hook in its place for Bernard Rose's "Candyman," relax — he isn't that method. However, one of the most infamous scenes in the 1992 horror classic features a swarm of bees buzzing out of Candyman's mouth as he goes to kiss Helen Lyle (Virginia Madsen). While most people believe this scary shot was achieved through CGI wizardry, it wasn't. The bees were actually in Todd's mouth.

He explained to ET how he had a dental dam in place to prevent the bees from going down his throat, but he did have them in his mouth for the entire scene. Fortunately, Todd's lawyer struck a deal with the producers that the actor would get paid $1,000 for every bee sting he received. "So I didn't mind it," Todd said. "I'm going like, 'Bring it on!' And it only totaled to 27 [stings]."

The story of how the late Heath Ledger prepared for the part of the Joker in Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Knight" has become the stuff of legend. While there have been numerous exaggerations and the narrative has grown several tails after the actor's death, what is known is that Ledger threw himself into the part in a major way. In Joseph McCabe's book "100 Things Batman Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die," Ledger's co-star Christian Bale, who plays Bruce Wayne and Batman in the film, revealed how Ledger asked him to beat him for real in the infamous interrogation scene — just one of the many ways Ledger pushed himself to extremes for his performance.

Speaking to Empire in 2007, Ledger discussed how he isolated himself — away from the world — in preparation. "I sat around in a hotel room in London for about a month, locked myself away, formed a little diary and experimented with voices," he said. "It was important to try to find a somewhat iconic voice and laugh. I ended up landing more in the realm of a psychopath — someone with very little to no conscience towards his acts." He put in so much effort that he also said he suffered insomnia as a result. When he was discovered dead in his apartment in 2008, sleeping pills were found near his body, and he was determined to have died from an overdose.

If you or anyone you know needs help with addiction issues, help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).

While the Joker makes his case to be the most homicidal clown in comic book history, Violator steps up as the most disgusting prankster. This demonic supervillain prances around Mark A.Z. Dippé's "Spawn" movie, farting and gobbling down on any trash he can shovel in his mouth. In one scene, he finds a pizza box with a single slice of cheesy goodness. One problem, though: It's covered in maggots. Well, that doesn't stop the clown, as he takes a huge bite and savors the bonus toppings.

John Leguizamo disappears into his role as Violator in "Spawn," delivering one of the best performances in an otherwise forgettable superhero film. He also fully committed to the character's gross habits, as he confirmed on X, formerly known as Twitter, revealing how he ate real-life maggots.

In a 2021 interview with CBR, Leguizamo explained how he undertook juggling and clown classes to prepare for the role but decided to go full method when the pizza came out, saying, "When they brought out the maggots, I went, 'F*** it, I'll eat it! Don't bring out the plastic things, it's not going to have the same effect when you cut to something and they're not moving.'"

When it comes to dedication to the craft, no one can top Daniel Day-Lewis. The multiple Oscar-winning actor commits to his performances in mind, body, and soul — sometimes at the cost of his own well-being in the long run. For Martin Scorsese's 2002 period piece "Gangs of New York," Day-Lewis took his preparation to play the nasty Bill the Butcher to the next level.

While there were several measures he undertook for his character, such as learning how to be an actual butcher and deciding against a specific coat because it didn't fit the era, he also decided to get his knuckles bruised in the streets. Speaking to The Independent, Day-Lewis confirmed rumors that he fought random strangers to get into character. "I had to do my preparation," he slyly said. "And I will admit that I went mad, totally mad. I remembered the days of fighting on the Millwall terraces and they stood me in good stead for Bill the Butcher. He was a bit of a punk, a marvelous character and a joy to be — but not so good for my physical or mental health."

While Day-Lewis received an Oscar nomination for his role, he didn't win the big gong here. Alas, a bunch of individuals ate the actor's knuckle sandwiches for nothing in the end.

Despite his reputation, Nicolas Cage doesn't indulge in method acting to the same extent as some of his peers. If anything, his approach to getting into character is far more interesting: He painted his face to channel the Spirit of Vengeance in the "Ghost Rider" sequel as a notable example, and it's hilarious to behold the behind-the-scenes footage. However, the reason for his restrained manner nowadays could be tied to an event from earlier in his career.

In Robert Bierman's 1988 horror comedy "Vampire's Kiss," Cage plays the part of Peter Loew — a literary agent who is bitten on the neck and believes he is now a vampire. He begins to display unusual behavior, including tucking into a cockroach for breakfast. Surprisingly, the script called for Loew to eat raw eggs, but Cage decided it would be more impactful for him to eat a creepy crawly instead.

In the film's commentary (via Film School Rejects), Cage explained his decision. "I saw it as a business decision," he said, "because when people see the cockroach go in my mouth it's like the bus blowing up in 'Speed,' people really react, and it's like worth $2 million in special effects and all I do is eat a bug. So it's good business." Cage didn't crunch on a cockroach once but twice, as Bierman made him do a second take; however, the director utilized the footage from the first one for the movie.