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With the recent Dallas Buyers Club movie and the success it had reported, people remembered that not only Jared Leto and Matthew McConaughey had to suffer drastic changes to make their characters plausible, credible and outstanding, but in their careers, many other superstars chose sometimes difficult roles that imposed physical transformations such as loosing weight, gaining weight, change of facial features and so on. History of cinema remembers such radical changes as the courage of some actors that went beyond their talent and defied their own bodies to get that character right. Some of these transformations and the actors’ interpretations also led to such powerful characters in memorable movies that can be considered acts of pure genius. Not a long time ago, Total Film Magazine made a photo gallery with cinema’s 50 most spectacular actors’ physical changes, but we picked only three of them because they were monumental, to say the least and should be honored properly. Let’s see the three actors who suffered radical changes to rock their roles.

3. Ellen Burstyn – Requiem For A Dream

We chose her not only because in 1999 this movie shook the core of everybody who saw it, but because it had a young Jared Leto in it, a man whose role transformation pales in comparison to that of his movie partner Ellen Burstyn. A woman under the horrific influence of drugs ends up looking like a ghost from a more modern horror flick and the genius of this transformation is that the movies shows you Ellen’s radical changes in a progressive matter, which makes things even more terrible. It is mind blowing and nerve shattering to see how a woman can decompose and become a walking dead due to drugs and Ellen’s powerful role is still haunting after so many years. For this part, she is still considered one of those actors who got robbed of an Oscar Award.

2. Mickey Rourke – The Wrestler

Why this actor and why this movie? Well, if you remember gorgeous hot stud Mikey Rourke from the ancient 9 and 1/2 Weeks or Wild Orchid and if you followed his life until more contemporary times, you know everybody bashed him around for ending up looking like some white trash with no future, and alcohol had a part to play too in his natural radical transformation. The man was mocked in the press so many years in a row, at some point it seemed that a talented and famous actor like him would never recover. He got fat and negligent and he looked wasted most of the times. And then, The Wrestler hit the cinemas and all detractors had to shut up. Not only that he displayed a body many young men would envy, but he made such an unforgettable role in such a powerful movie, he managed to redeem himself for all his past sins. Not to mention long blonde hair.

1. Charlize Theron – Monster

Among all the actors who who suffered radical changes to rock their roles, Charlize Theron’s interpretation of famous female serial killer Eileen Wuornos was perhaps the most dramatic one. Other female actresses gained some pounds for their characters, Renee Zellweger and her Bridget Jones, Milla Kunis who lost a lot of weight to end up “skin and bones” for her role in the Black Swan, Natalie Portman who virtually starved to death and survived mind blowing physical training to deliver the Black Swan to us, and so many more. But Theron’s transformation was dramatic to the core and nobody could saw that coming. The beautiful, ingenue blonde with perfect skin and sparkling eyes delivered a monster in its true sense, as she gave up eyebrows, she had the face of a thousand sins, she wore prosthetic yellow teeth, she got… bigger, not fatter and whomever saw her on screen and remembered her in Sweet November was shocked to the core. She wasn’t the same person and rumors say that after that movie, she lost something of her beauty.

Perhaps there are even more than 50 actors who who suffered radical changes to rock their roles, but the list conceived by Total Film is a good place to start thinking about the real sacrifice some actors have to make, the real drama behind a part, the real challenges they have to go through not only in front of the camera, but behind them, starving or stuffing up with greasy food, becoming other people, trying to live to the expectations, stepping beyond the job and becoming one with the character.  

With the news of Philip Seymour Hoffman dying from a heroine overdose circulating with the speed of light, we face again the pain of losing yet another talented actor to drugs, pills, over the counter medication and overdose. Why do these things happen? How can an Oscar Award winning superstar die at 46 and get found with a needle and heroin bags by his side? We all found out that he had an addiction history and we all know these things just don’t go away by themselves so easily. But how cruel can fate be to kidnap from among us incredibly talented people? Were their destinies written? Did they bring their demise to themselves by acting irresponsibly? We may never know the answers to this, but all we can say is that Hoffman wasn’t the only one. To honor great actors who died on an overdose, we will take a look back in history and see other names that got lost to us in the favor of drugs.

1. Heath Ledger

He died too young? Too soon? Too early in his career? After looking pretty and managing to impress us with a few roles, especially the one in Brokeback Mountain, A Knight’s Tale or the lighter 10 things I hate about you, Heath managed to leave the entire world with its jaw dropped after playing the role of his life and the role that brought him his death: The Joker. The monumental, unforgettable Joker. A part which would have propelled Heath to the stars and which would have opened any door in Hollywood for any part he would have liked to receive. And yet, at only 28 years old, he was found dead in a hotel room for what it was called a “mix” of medication. Was it the pills or the Joker who killed Keith? We may never know, but among the actors who died on an overdose, he left us with the most shocking void ever.

2. Cory Monteith

Glee was never the same without him and the world was left an emptier, darker place. We lost Cory to a terrible combination of alcohol and heroine and he, just like Keith, were living their glory years.

3. Robert Pastorelli

If you are thinking that his name doesn’t ring any bell to you, it somehow should. He may not have been a star the size of Philip Seymour Hoffman or Heath Ledger at least, but you surely saw him in famous movies such as Michael with John Travolta, Eraser, Miami Vice, Dances with Wolves or some episodes of Cracker: Mind over Murder TV series. He died of a heroine overdose at the age of 49 years old.

4. John Belushi

The ruthless claws of drugs reached the Belushi family in 1982, when John, Jim Belushi’s brother, passed away due to a powerful combination of drugs and alcohol in a hotel room in Los Angeles. He was partying with other two cinema superstars and friends Robin Williams ?i Robert De Niro and chose to end the night in the company of a woman later found to be a drug dealer. John never made it to the next morning and cocaine, heroin and alcohol were mentioned related to his death. The woman was punished by the law, but this was a small compensation for the loss of John.

5. River Pheonix

This young rebel had himself a promising career in the entertainment industry, but he is also among the actors who died on an overdose, at the incredible age of 23 years old. Joaquin Phoenix’s brother died in 1993 when his life and his professional path were just blooming. He was supposed to perform on stage and before that, he stopped to take a “speedball”, the killer combination between cocaine and heroine that is responsible for many less famous deaths, but equally painful. He suffered a heart attack, although used to substance consumption but the ambulance and the doctors that rushed to his aid couldn’t save his life.

This world lost a lot of talented people to accidents and alcohol abuse. We lost musicians, actors and public figures and humanity lost brothers, husbands or best friends. In the memory of Philip Seymour Hoffman and all the actors who died on an overdose, we should enjoy their creations and make their legacy known.