People make a big deal out of actors packing on or
shedding the pounds for the sake of a role. Think about De Niro in Raging Bull, Christian Bale in The Machinist, or Tom Hanks in Cast Away and images immediately come to
mind of an altered body paired with a great performance. It’s easy to conflate
physical transformation and great acting or to think that the one causes the
other. I suppose it helps the actor get into the mind of the character in some
cases, but regardless, the actor still has to do the work in his head even
after the physical aspect has taken root.
