In this 2005 film, Joaquin Phoenix stars as a legendary musician, Johnny Cash. Cash was one of the greatest American country singers that ever lived and ended up selling over 90 million records worldwide. The film follows his life and is actually based on two of Cash’s autobiographies and follows his romance with June Carter (played by Reese Witherspoon,) along with his rise into superstardom.
The actor enrolled himself into a self-made “rock’n’ roll boot camp. He taught himself guitar and took rigorous vocal lessons, often embarrassing himself on the mic. His transformation did not happen overnight! Walk the Line grossed over $187 million at the box office, $23 million of which came on the opening weekend alone. It won several awards and was nominated for many more which included five Oscars. Witherspoon won the Oscar for best actress, and Phoenix won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor.
Lincoln (2012)
Steven Spielberg directed and produced this 2012 biographical historical drama, which stars Daniel Day-Lewis as the former president in the midst of the Civil War. With a nation filled with bloodshed, the president must go ahead with his legacy-defining move of abolishing slavery and uniting the nation. Sally Field played first lady Mary Todd Lincoln, who tries her best to support her husband through troubled times.
Day-Lewis won several awards for his role in the film, including the 2013 Golden Globe and Academy Award for Best Actor. It was nominated for a total of seven Golden Globes and 12 Oscars. The film grossed more than $275 million at the box office – not bad, compared to the $65 million budget.
Ray (2004)
Ray Charles, AKA the Genius, or, Brother Ray, to those who knew him best, was a soul musician who lost his eyesight during childhood due to glaucoma. The musician has been credited for basically pioneering soul music during the 1950s by combining blues, jazz, rhythm and blues, and gospel into his music. In the 2004 film, Jamie Foxx portrays the legend, who wounded up with three number one hits on Billboard’s Hot 100 during the course of his 30-year career in music.
The film debuted just a few months after the musician passed away in 2004. Jamie Foxx won a number of awards for his work in the lead role, including both the Academy Award and Golden Globe Award for Best Actor.
The Danish Girl (2015)
It’s no surprise that Redmayne is on this list — he’s become rather well-known for his foray into method acting. One of his films, “The Danish Girl,” where he plays transgender artist Lili Elbe, meant he was researching the role for two years before he even knew it was officially his to play!
He also interviewed many trans women, absorbing their stories, as well as an ex-colleague of his, Lana Wachowski (director of “The Matrix”), and gaining insights. He said it was a learning curve because he had always traditionally associated gender with sexuality. The end result was a performance that critics and audiences alike adored.
House of Gucci (2021)
Lady Gaga is an incredibly talented singer-songwriter who has taken on the challenging role of Patrizia Reggiani in Ridley Scott's "House of Gucci." The character is notorious for plotting the murder of her husband, Maurizio Gucci, and Gaga's performance promises to be a tour de force.
In preparation for the role, the singer revealed to British Vogue that she spent over a year living as her character both on and off the set. This level of immersion is not uncommon in the world of method acting, but it did cause some concern for Gaga's friends and family, who noticed that she became somewhat disconnected from reality.