20 Actors Who Overprepared For A Role, And 20 Who Were Woefully Underprepared

We all remember that one person from our school days who used to endlessly prepare before every test. And you bet there was also someone else who did absolutely no studying whatsoever. Well, the following actors and actresses fit into either one of those two categories: those who took preparing for a role to the extreme, and those who did the absolute bare minimum before shooting. Read on to discover which superstars bust a gut to make their characters’ ordeals look oh so real — and which ones, well, didn’t. Either way, you know their performances won't be forgotten anytime soon!

20. Overprepared – Dustin Hoffman, Marathon Man

A dedicated disciple of the school of method acting in his early years, Dustin Hoffman really pushed the boat out while preparing for Marathon Man. In one particular scene where his character was meant to be exhausted after staying up for three days straight, Hoffman dutifully decided that he, too, would not sleep for 72 hours. But when he asked his legendary co-star Laurence Olivier how the shoot for that scene went — and informed him of his sleep deprivation — Olivier retorted, “My dear boy, why don’t you just try acting?” Ouch!

20. Underprepared – Ewan McGregor, Emma

Ewan McGregor admitted to The Observer in 2003 that he didn’t exactly bring his A-game to the set of Emma. In fact, the Scottish actor hadn’t even bothered to read the Jane Austen novel it was based on! It’s maybe no surprise, then, that he’s not super proud of his performance. He even called it the worst thing he’d ever done. He told The Observer, “I [only] made the decision to do that film because I thought I should be seen to be doing something different from Trainspotting.” How about that for a regret?

19. Overprepared – Demi Moore, G.I. Jane

The quality of G.I. Jane can perhaps be questioned (it only has a 51% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, so not everyone's a fan), but Demi Moore’s dedication to the project cannot. The actress really gave it her all, taking part in punishing training regimens prescribed by ex-Navy SEALS. Moore later remarked, “I could have come in and asked to let the stuntwoman do the obstacle course. But I felt I would have walked away having missed an opportunity experiencing, first-hand, what these people actually go through in training.” She also shaved off her hair for it. Nice one, Demi.

19. Underprepared – Hugh Jackman, X-Men

It’s impossible to imagine anyone as Wolverine in X-Men besides Hugh Jackman. But it very nearly wasn’t the amiable Australian, as he replaced Dougray Scott a few weeks into filming. It’s maybe no surprise, then, that Jackman was massively underprepared for the role. He’d never read any of the comics, nor built his muscles up yet in a gym. He even tweeted in 2020, “When the studio called and asked if I could get in shape to play Wolverine in three weeks I might have over-promised! But wouldn’t you have too?” Erm, probably Hugh.

18. Overprepared – Christopher Lee, The Lord of the Rings

Christopher Lee’s performance as the wicked wizard Saruman in The Lord of the Rings is one for the ages. So, it should come as no surprise that the legendary British actor was extremely well-prepared for his role. In fact, Lee was such a fan of the J.R.R. Tolkien novels that he reread them every year, and he once met the writer in person. And to bag a part in the movies, Lee actually took a wizard role in a TV show purely to prove to Peter Jackson he could play one. Plus, he wrote the director a personal letter asking to be in the trilogy.

18. Underprepared – Mariah Carey, The House

Imagine being so completely unprepared for a role that you actually get the boot! Well, Mariah Carey knows the feeling. The talented singer has a reputation for being a diva, of course, and it seems she lived up to the name on a movie project with Will Ferrell. Carey was going to have a small role in a comedy starring Ferrell and Amy Poehler called The House. But Ferrell explained to Andy Cohen that Carey arrived on set “hours late” and gave script notes, even saying she didn’t want to do certain scenes!

17. Overprepared – Brie Larson, Room

When preparing for what would be an Oscar-winning role in Room, Brie Larson apparently pulled out all the stops. The movie tells the story of a woman imprisoned with her child in a tiny shed. So what did Larson decide to do? Isolate in her house of course! She told the BBC, “I stayed at home for a month. I was excited to see what would come up if I tuned out for a while.” Larson also hung out with her onscreen son, penned a diary, made collages, and met with boffins to fully understand captivity. Phew!

17. Underprepared – Michael Gambon, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Michael Gambon took over from Richard Harris as Dumbledore in the third installment of the beloved Harry Potter franchise, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. But Potter fans may be surprised to learn that the actor apparently didn’t read a single page of J.K. Rowling’s beloved novels before starting. Not even one! According to Gambon, there was “no point in reading the books” because he was simply “playing with [screenwriter] Steve Kloves’ words.” Each actor has their own methods, we guess! Which Dumbledore was your favorite?

16. Overprepared – Richard Gere, Time Out of Mind

Richard Gere portrayed a homeless New Yorker in Time Out of Mind, and he really went out his way to make it authentic. For years prior to filming, the star had helped the Coalition for Homeless and he spoke with many real folk about what it was like. Plus, the cameras used for filming the movie were often hidden away, so an in-character Gere could elicit genuine reactions from people on the streets of NYC. Still, Gere told Entertainment Weekly, “I wasn’t thinking about me being a homeless guy. I was just thinking about a yearning to belong.”

16. Underprepared – Paul Bettany, Iron Man

Given his performance in the franchise, it might surprise you that Paul Bettany didn’t put much effort into preparing for Iron Man. No, for his role as the titular character’s AI sidekick Jarvis, Bettany did about as much prep as a lazy student before an English exam. He never read the comics, nor watched any Marvel Universe films. Bettany merely read out his lines with no context in a recording booth. Also, fans who approached him to talk about his character were met by a bemused guy who didn’t know what to tell them!

15. Overprepared – Lady Gaga, House of Gucci

Lady Gaga left no stone unturned when preparing for her role as Patrizia Reggiani in House of Gucci. The “Poker Face” singer reportedly spoke in the Italian accent of her character for a full year and a half, and weirdly watched clips of panthers and foxes in order to incorporate their cunning. The star told BuzzFeed News how she “started to live in a way whereby anything that I looked at, anything that I touched, I started to take notice of where and when I could see money.” We thought you lived like that anyway, Gaga.

15. Underprepared – Billy Burke, Twilight

You may remember Billy Burke as Bella’s father Charlie in the Twilight saga. But the actor wasn’t really that bothered about it all, it seems, and did minimum prep, ignoring the books entirely. He told Collider, “I had no idea what Twilight was, at all. Catherine Hardwicke had seen a movie that I did a number of years ago… and she requested to have me in. I didn’t really have a clue that the movie would have that much success, but I had an idea that it would do something.” Don’t be too enthusiastic, Billy.

14. Overprepared – Daniel Day-Lewis, My Left Foot

Few actors have as much of a reputation for excessive preparation than Daniel Day-Lewis. But the critically acclaimed actor took things to a whole new level when getting ready for his Oscar-winning role in 1989’s My Left Foot. First, he took the time to hang out with some disabled patients at a clinic to conduct some research. Then, whilst on set he refused to leave his prop wheelchair. Apparently, he even insisted on being spoon-fed by the crew. He told The Independent, “I have always been intrigued by these lives I have never experienced.”

14. Underprepared – Ewan McGregor, Beauty and the Beast

Ewan McGregor is back again on our list of not-so-prepared actors. So, what did he do — or more accurately not do — this time? Well, apparently learning how to speak with a convincing French accent was one step too far! Word is that his efforts for the role of the French Lumière in Beauty and the Beast ended up sounding more Mexican than French — oops! — and had to be re-recorded. And to make matters more embarrassing, the actor’s wife, Eve Mavrakis, is actually from France! C’est terrible!

13. Overprepared – Jennifer Hudson, Respect

When you’re selected by none other than Aretha Franklin herself to portray her in a movie, you’d better put in the work. And to her credit, Jennifer Hudson absolutely did. She met with the legendary soul singer on a weekly basis for several years — yes, years! — getting to know her and picking her brain about her past. Hudson also painstakingly went over old clips of Franklin performing and speaking, and she enlisted the help of vocal and movement experts to mimic her mannerisms accurately. We bet her effort earned Aretha’s respect. Sorry, we couldn’t resist.

13. Underprepared – Michael J. Fox, Back to the Future

Michael J. Fox was so perfectly cast as Marty McFly in the Back to the Future series, it feels like sacrilege to learn that he almost wasn’t. But it’s true! Fox was only brought in after the movie had been shot with Eric Stolz as Marty. So, not surprisingly, Fox wasn’t as well prepared as he could’ve been. Plus, he had other TV commitments, so he had to shoot the movie at night. Amazingly, director Robert Zemeckis informed the cast of the change and the need to re-shoot via a bullhorn on set!

12. Overprepared – Robert Pattinson, Good Time

Robert Pattinson played a desperate thief in gritty movie Good Time, and he went to pretty insane lengths to get into character. Pattinson prepared for the role by working at a car wash in New York and riding the subway inconspicuously. The actor also revealed that he’d even gone as far as to live in the same Harlem basement as his character — and in pretty gross circumstances, too. He said, “I never opened my curtains, didn’t change the sheets the entire time I was there, for those two months, and I would just sleep in my clothes.” Anything for the sake of art!

12. Underprepared – Sabrina Carpenter, Work It

From time to time, an unprepared actor is actually exactly what a director is looking for for their project. This was the case for Sabrina Carpenter in the 2020 Netflix movie Work It. Carpenter portrays Quinn Ackerman, an awkward teen who’s in the process of learning how to dance. So, looking like she had absolutely no idea what she was doing was actually part of the job description for Carpenter. She had to look like she couldn’t dance in order to make it believable. Sounds like the ideal role if you ask us!

11. Overprepared – Natalie Portman, Black Swan

Natalie Portman won an Oscar for her performance in Black Swan. And she certainly earned it the hard way. The actress spent many, many months practicing ballet, often for up to eight hours at a time. Her efforts resulted in her toenails falling off, and she even busted a rib practicing a lift. Portman told Entertainment Weekly, “There were some nights that I thought I literally was going to die. It was the first time I understood how you could get so wrapped up in a role that it could sort of take you down.” Wow.

11. Underprepared – James McAvoy, X-Men: First Class

Here’s a lesson in not making assumptions courtesy of James McAvoy. When the Scottish actor landed the iconic role of Professor X in X-Men: First Class, he immediately assumed that he’d have to be bald like his famous predecessor Sir Patrick Stewart. So, he shaved his head. Only he was wrong, and the studio actually wanted him to have hair for the role! Oops. Luckily, an ill-prepared McAvoy managed to secure a wig and called a hairstylist pal who was able to sort him out with some hair extensions. Lucky break!

10. Overprepared – Tom Cruise, Interview with the Vampire

Tom Cruise gave an intense performance as Lestat in Interview With the Vampire. But did you know that the woman who wrote the book didn’t want him in the role initially? Yes, Anne Rice was less than impressed by his casting, but an upset Cruise set out to prove her wrong by preparing the hell out of the role — including losing a bunch of weight, learning to play piano, reading all Rice’s books and living the high life in Paris. Rice was won over, saying “I think Tom did a wonderful job, I really do.”

10. Underprepared – Peter Weller, RoboCop

Peter Weller was the strong-jawed, slenderly built man beneath the iconic cyborg suit in 1987’s RoboCop. But unfortunately — due to circumstances out of his control, we might add — Weller was rather unprepared for the role. As it turned out, his robotic suit wasn’t finished until right at the last hour. Understandably, the actor had been planning to spend a few weeks getting used to the thing before filming. But as it was, shooting had to be halted for three days to allow him to get acclimatized to it. It sounds like a nightmare!

9. Overprepared – Jamie Foxx, Ray

Jamie Foxx’s performance as Ray Charles in the 2004 biopic Ray took a lot of hard work to get right, and rest assured the actor left no stone unturned in his pursuit of perfection. He fasted to achieve the same build as Charles, learned his songs on piano, and stuck on prosthetic eyelids to replicate his blindness. The latter caused him panic attacks. Foxx later told The New York Times, “Imagine having your eyes glued shut for 14 hours a day. That’s your jail sentence.” At least you got an Oscar for it, Jamie.

9. Underprepared – Viggo Mortensen, The Lord of The Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

Imagine someone else as Aragorn in The Lord of The Rings. You can’t do it, can you? But shockingly, Viggo Mortensen only stepped into the iconic role at short notice, and he wasn’t remotely ready. He told Yahoo, “I felt unprepared. The other actors had been there for weeks and months in some cases preparing for the arduous task of shooting the whole trilogy. I also felt awkward, because I’d never been in a position of replacing another actor.” Ah well, it all turned out okay.

8. Overprepared – Margot Robbie, I, Tonya

For her role as skater-turned-law-breaker Tonya Harding, Margot Robbie really put in the hard yards. With pretty much zero prior experience skating on ice, the actress trained diligently for several hours a day for around five months. She told ESPN, “Learning to skate from scratch as an actor is a whole different ball game because you have a limited amount of time to master [a skill] that has taken years to develop as a competitive skater.” Talk about pressure. Lucky, though, Robbie was reportedly “a natural” with “a great work ethic.” We can believe it!

8. Underprepared – Marlon Brando, Apocalypse Now

Francis Ford Coppola’s Vietnam yarn Apocalypse Now had a famously fraught filming process. And it seems this wasn’t helped at all by one of Hollywood’s biggest stars. Apparently, Marlon Brando turned up to set around 100 lbs overweight and without ever having set eyes on the script. So, a stressed Coppola halted filming to read it to him and explain the character he was meant to be playing. But his unexpected weight gain meant that the character — who had been described in the script as “a lean and hungry warrior” — had to be largely rewritten.

7. Overprepared – Daniel Day-Lewis, The Crucible

It’s probably no surprise that Daniel Day-Lewis and his method acting is back again on our list. But in preparation for Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, he took things to a whole new extreme. According to The Guardian, to get into character, Day-Lewis “stayed on a Massachusetts island in the film set’s replica village — without electricity or running water — planted fields with 17th-century tools, and built his character’s house.” Not only does that sound exhausting, but also pretty gross. Without running water, did the actor not bathe during filming? If not, he probably wasn’t the most popular guy on set...

7. Underprepared – Sofia Coppola, The Godfather, Part III

The Godfather, Part III was beset with problems. Not least the fact that Winona Ryder quit during production due to illness, leaving Francis Ford Coppola without a daughter for Michael Corleone. So, he turned to his very own daughter, Sofia, who was already on set. Unsurprisingly, she wasn’t exactly prepared for such a last-minute gig. “I just jumped into it without thinking much about it,” Sofia told The New York Times in 2020. In the end, her performance was rather mercilessly slated — much like the movie itself. But luckily, she picked herself up and became an acclaimed director like her papa.

6. Overprepared – Rooney Mara, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

No one could accuse Rooney Mara of being unprepared for The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. For her role as Lisbeth Salander, Mara transformed her physical appearance with multiple piercings, bleached eyebrows, and carefully cropped locks. She also took up skateboarding and martial arts, and she learned to ride a motorbike. What’s more, she learned to talk with a Swedish accent and traipsed around Stockholm on her own to mimic Salander’s alienation. “I didn’t have to think of anything but the character,” she told the Hollywood Reporter in 2012.

6. Underprepared – Kit Harington, Pompeii

Game of Thrones star Kit Harington took a break from Westeros to appear in the historical drama Pompeii in 2014. But the English actor was woefully unprepared for the movie — apart from being in excellent physical shape for the abundant shots of his abs, that is. No, Harington hadn’t done any research or even visited Pompeii before taking the movie part. “I didn't have time before we started shooting," he explained to the BBC. He did, however, visit the Italian city post-shoot, and he was pleased to discover that the screenplay was accurate.

5. Overprepared – Shia LeBeouf, Fury

How’s this for dedication to the craft? Just one day after Shia LeBeouf landed the role of Boyd “Bible” Swan Fury in the 2014 war movie Fury, he actually enlisted in the U.S. National Guard. He got inked, baptized, and became a chaplain’s assistant, too. LeBeouf then set up camp on base for a month, even yanked out one of his teeth, and he didn’t wash for a quarter of a year! The star told Dazed that the director David Ayer had said, “I need you to give me everything.” Well, he certainly did that!

5. Underprepared – Ewan McGregor, Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace

During filming for Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace, Ewan McGregor had an unfortunate habit that he just couldn’t shake. During his many battle scenes as the young Obi-Wan Kenobi, he kept accidentally making fake lightsaber sounds. As it turns out, not very helpful for the production team. The Scottish actor told the BBC, “To begin with, it was quite difficult not to make the sound.” He did it so often during the shoot that in post-production, enhanced lightsaber noises had to be thrown in to cover it up.

4. Overprepared – Christian Bale, The Machinist

Christian Bale is known as one of the most intense actors out there. And while preparing for his role in The Machinist, he definitely confirmed that reputation. Four months before shooting, Bale began drastically losing weight to get into character. He weighed a skeletal 120 lbs by the time he’d finished. His biographer Harrison Cheung revealed he only had “water, an apple, and one cup of coffee per day” to get to the weight he wanted. He also apparently started chain-smoking and knocking back whiskey. The result? One of the most epic movie transformations of all time. But please, don’t try this at home.

4. Underprepared – Tom Hardy, Bronson

Tom Hardy jumped at the chance to play psychopathic criminal Charles Bronson — known as ‘Britain’s most notorious prison inmate’ and not to be confused with beloved American actor Charles Bronson. But when Hardy met with Bronson, the criminal was less than impressed. Apparently, Bronson didn’t think that Hardy had put in the work to look fit enough to play him in the movie. So, the actor got to work changing Bronson’s mind — working out ferociously and bulking up on pizza, chicken, and ice cream. The convict then cut off and sent Hardy his mustache in the mail. We guess that was his seal of approval?

3. Overprepared – Hilary Swank, Boys Don't Cry

Hilary Swank’s performance as the opposite sex in Boys Don’t Cry earned her an Academy Award. And she definitely put the hours in. Months before shooting started, the dedicated actress cut her hair short and went out in the world presenting as a male. Swank perfected a low speaking voice and called herself James. And because she wasn’t a big name back then, she got away with it. Swank told The Telegraph, “I wasn’t famous. Now I can’t go out and try out new characters on the street, because people would be like, ‘What are you doing?’”

3. Underprepared – Benedict Cumberbatch, South Pacific

Benedict Cumberbatch is arguably one of the U.K.’s finest actors working today, but in 2009 he came across an unexpected challenge when asked to narrate a wildlife documentary. The docuseries, called South Pacific, centered on the animals of the South Pacific islands, which included penguins. Only the word ‘penguin’ was seemingly one step too far for the Oscar-nominated actor. In a rather unfortunate — and amusing — turn of events, Cumberbatch just couldn’t seem to get his tongue around saying the lovable aquatic bird’s name right: “Pengwing?” “Penglings?” Every actor has their limits, we suppose.

2. Overprepared – Robert De Niro, Taxi Driver

Robert De Niro’s performance in Taxi Driver would be magnificent no matter how he prepared for it. But knowing just how much effort he put into getting into character makes it all the more impressive. The dedicated method actor got inside the mind of cabbie Travis Bickle by taking 12-hour stints driving a cab around New York City. This hard work enabled him to really get to know the life of a taxi driver, the streets, and the people living there. Apparently, De Niro even did some pick-ups in between filming! Imagine hailing down that cab!

2. Underprepared – Christopher Plummer, All the Money in the World

When it came to shooting for All the Money in the World, Christopher Plummer wasn’t as prepared as he could’ve been. That’s because he was brought in at the very last minute to play J. Paul Getty, after Kevin Spacey was removed from the project. So, Plumber winged his way through it all admirably in the hastily arranged reshoot, which took just nine days. He told The Hollywood Reporter, “I really followed the script and Ridley [Scott]’s suggestions, which weren’t many because there wasn’t much time.” Kudos, Christopher Plummer!

1. Overprepared – Charlize Theron, Monster

It’s hard to think of a role in which an actress has physically transformed herself quite as dramatically as Charlize Theron did for Monster. The South African was barely recognizable when she portrayed real-life serial killer Aileen Wuornos. She gained a whopping 30 pounds and had her face and hair transformed with amazing make-up trickery to mirror the terrifying Wournos. She explained Stumped, “I knew I had to transform my body to get myself into her physical skin — the way she moved in her body.” It was certainly worth the effort, we think!

1. Underprepared – Marlon Brando, The Island of Dr. Moreau

It seems fitting to end proceedings with the king of the underprepared, the late Marlon Brando. His second appearance here comes thanks to his hilariously mad approach to ’90s caper The Island of Dr. Moreau. But it wasn’t so funny for screenwriter Ron Hutchinson. He told The Guardian how the iconic actor turned up not only completely unprepared, but “hell-bent on sabotaging” his movie. The legendary actor wanted to ad-lib it all and rarely left his trailer. Hutchinson, who had been a huge admirer of Brando’s, even went as far as to call him a “monster.”