Jake Gyllenhaal And 5 Other Actors Who Took Their Roles Too Far

Jake Gyllenhaal was forced to visit the emergency room on Wednesday (13th November) after punching a mirror on the set of his upcoming drama, Nightcrawler.

The actor was filming an "emotionally charged" scene when he seems to have got carried away and smashed a mirror. A source, speaking to People, explained what happened: "Jake flipped out, his character was looking into a mirror during the scene and punched the mirror in anger and broke it, cutting himself so bad he had to be taken to a hospital."

It appears that, not only was the scene emotional, but Gyllenhaal had been worked for eighteen hours, according to The Huffington Post. Nevertheless, the 32-year-old actor was stitched up and returned to set the same day. Gyllenhaal is dedicating himself to his role as a crime-scene reporter in Nightcrawler, he is doing all he can to lose 20 pounds (some reports suggest even starving himself.)

Gyllenhaal is not the only actor to have taken his preparation for the role to extreme lengths. More recently, Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto lost a considerable amount of weight in order to play two HIV positive patients in Dallas Buyers Club. Yet the aforementioned actors are not the only ones to have taken their preparations to dangerous levels.

Gyllenhaal filming for Nightcrawler.

Here's a run-down of five other actors who suffered for their craft:

1. Christian Bale's Emaciated Figure

Christian Bale was almost unrecognisable in The Machinist. The British actor lost so much weight his ribs and hip bones were protruding. Bale's appearance was a vital part of his role in which he plays a machinist who is shunned after he is involved in an accident which causes a co-worker to lose his arm. Bale was eating less than 260 calories a day in preparation for filming and lost approximately 60 pounds.

Bale had every intention of continuing to lose weight for the role, but the film's producers stopped him when they grew concerned about the possible health risks.

Bale regained the weight for role as Batman, massing an additional 60 points in order to play the muscle bound cap crusader.

Christian Bale's weight has changed dramatically with his roles.

1. Robert DeNiro's Teeth

Robert DeNiro paid a dentist $20,000 dollars to destroy his teeth. The actor wanted to appear, in 1991 drama Cape Fear, as though he had spent years in jail and been subject to regular beatings. DeNiro decided prosthetics wouldn't do and had his teeth ground down by a professional.

Robert DeNiro paid a dentist to destroy his teeth.

1. Halle Berry's Nightmares and Heath Ledger's Manic Laugh

Psychological troubles are not unknown to members of the acting profession. Halle Berry was plagued with nightmares after appearing in Gothika. On the subject, Berry said "I had lots of nightmares while making this movie and I think that was my body's way of processing all the scary, freaky information that I pumped into it all day."

Heath Ledger also placed himself under pschological strain. He locked himself away before shooting Batman, in which he played The Joker. He spent a month alone in a hotel room in order to perfect his maniacal laugh. He spent so much time in his role as the villain; he even kept a notebook filled with his ramblings in character.

Halle Berry suffered from nightmares after filming Gothika.

1. Sylvester Stallone's Rocky Health

Sylvester Stallone seriously injured himself on numerous occasions whilst filming the Rocky movies. The actor insisted on actually taking punches in order to make the action seem more realistic.

The result? Stallone has, according to StyleBlazer, heart problems as a result of the injuries he suffered whilst filming Rocky IV.

Stallone suffered heart damage as a result of taking punches during filming.

1. Waxing Steve Carrell

Steve Carrell in The 40 Year Old Virgin decided to have his chest hair waxed off - for real. Evidently it was the cheaper option than devising some bizarre prop chest in which Carrell could act behind. However, it also means Carrell's screams of agony were definitely not put on. Incredibly, he still somehow manages to remain in character throughout the suffering.

Carrell explained in behind-the-scenes footage that although he thought initially it would "be pretty easy" but concluded with "this was a dumb idea."

Watch The 40-Year-Old Virgin waxing scene (contains strong language):