Sometimes, a role demands a little more from an actor than just learning lines and embracing the character.
From Kate Winslet’s world-record feat to the quest that had Angelina Jolie in tears, stars often find themselves mastering new skills or stepping out of their comfort zones to pull off a role.
Keep reading for a list of stars who took up new skills for projects.
Angelina Jolie learned to sing opera for ‘Maria’
It’d be tough to play a legendary opera singer without singing yourself, which is exactly why Angelina Jolie conquered her fear of singing in public in order to portray Maria Callas.
In the film, Jolie’s vocals are mixed with original recordings of Callas’ performances and it was the first time she’d ever sung on camera.
“When I tried to get her to sing, she started to cry,” her vocal coach Eric Vetro recalled of their first meeting.
Despite her discomfort, Jolie appreciated the challenge.
“I admire people that take a big swing, even if they fall … if I see somebody being emotionally brave or creatively brave, I root for them. I don’t judge them,” she told the Los Angeles Times.
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Margot Robbie learned to ice skate for ‘I, Tonya’
Ice skating is an unlikely hobby for a Gold Coast native, but Margot Robbie spent months training to perform the basic skating choreography needed to play figure skater Tonya Harding.
Skating doubles helped with the more complicated stuff, but Robbie worked with skating choreographer Sarah Kawahara for three months ahead of filming to learn skills necessary to pull off the role.
“I was honestly terrified that I wouldn’t be able to pull it off,” Robbie told The Hollywood Reporter. “We were just a few weeks from shooting, and I was still struggling to find my outside edges. I just thought I was never going to get them, and then, one day, it just clicked.”
Will Smith learned to solve the Rubik’s Cube for ‘The Pursuit of Happyness’
Will Smith’s character Chris Gardner solves a Rubik’s Cube to impress a potential employer in The Pursuit of Happyness – and no, that wasn’t done by a double!
Smith learned to do it in real life from an expert, World Cube Association co-founder Tyson Mao.
“After 10 hours, Will Smith was able to solve the Rubik’s Cube on his own, without anything. Not only learning the process, but committing it to memory,” Mao told the Chicago Tribune.
Ryan Gosling learned piano for ‘La La Land’
Sceptics could not believe Ryan Gosling managed to be play a jazz pianist so convincingly in Oscar-nominated La La Land without a hand double, but behind-the-scene proof said otherwise!