Do you think actors ever get possessed by the people they are portraying?

Question

Do you think this could have happened to Heath Ledger? There were reports that the last role he played really got to him and he couldn't sleep..etc.

Answer 1

noooo

Answer 2

While all possessions seem unlikely to me.Possession by cartoon character seems extra special unlikely.

Answer 3

I have heard that said before. Although it's taking method acting to the extreme don't you think? TY  ... you OK ?

Answer 4

I've often wondered about the idea of possession. Aside from the more dramatic ideas, there are cases of people becoming so into a character, real or otherwise, that they become that character. This can be observed in children. They love to play pretend. They see themselves as someone and, for a while, believe that's who they are. This could be a more serious situation for an adult. For someone to believe they are someone besides who they really are could be considered a form of possession. In that case it would be voluntary, but real nevertheless. Acting can be an application of this form of possession. Some actors have a hard time returning to their real self.

In other words, yes (in a one way at least).

Answer 5

i believe that, it can happen to fans of movies or tv series they imagine that they are a particular character.

Answer 6

I think not

Answer 7

Yes I think they can. Then they begin to live in illusion. Look at Joan Crawford, poor beauty turned into a witch.

Answer 8

This is a normal thing for many actors, when I first read the reports that Heath Ledger had issues with playing the joker it reminded me of Sir Anthony Hopkins.

For so long now I have known (due to press reports and word of mouth) that Anthony had great problems within his role as Dr. Hannibal Lecter and found great distaste at filming the scene where he repeatedly clubbed the police officer with his own baton and without remorse.

There is method acting and there is acting to the extremeties where ones own health comes into question and even though out and out possession is out of the question being consumed with a characters psyche most definitely is very true indeed I feel the only actor who is kind of immune from this is Jack Nicholson.

I used to act when I was younger, and for one scene I did it involved me getting shot I got some red paint and just painted it in the chest area of this white shirt I did my scene and for hours afterwards I just felt sick had a tense headache and was generally upset because I had taken on the role of a victim of a shooting - I was only a wannabe actor but a trained actor well theres much more pressure on them.

Answer 9

I'm an actor and i do believe that if we are not careful, we can easily get carried away with the characters we are portraying.  A good and dedicated actor will research the role so as to give the best possible performance.  But also,  a good actor should be strong enough to de-role once filming or a play is over.  It is very common for the leading lady and leading man "to fall in love" and then get into the usual gossip columns.  Very few of these romances flourish and continue,  and almost invariably die out once the production is over.  This is because for a while the two will have been taken over by their characters and actually believed they were in love.  This is why show business people are very vulnerable.

Answer 10

When Jennifer Lopez portrayed the lead character in the semi-biographical film "Selena," the real Selena's mother said it was almost like Jennifer was channeling Selena's spirit.

Answer 11

I doubt they get possessed.

It wasn't that so much as the energies of other people on his character.  He was playing the wicked man, not the batman.  He could have been feeling sorry about himself, that he was now typecast as the villian, not the hero, possibly for the rest of his career.  

There's also something called Victory Disease.  When someone wins something big, they get big pressure to outdo themselves, and they fear they can't.  He could have crumbled after so much effort.

Either that or it was a substance abuse overdose problem, plain and simple addiction.

Answer 12

apparently yul bryner ,after playing "the king and i " became the king at home !! would not go down to well with the family, i would think.!!!

Answer 13

actually, that happens all the time to actors and actresses all over the world. they even have an advantage sometimes in life because they know a certain role to play when the situation demands it.

Answer 14

rarely.

Answer 15

Actually, when I first read your question, Heath ledger was the first person to come to mind!!  He was documented in saying that this character (the Joker) was so dark and evil that it consumed him, and he was unable to sleep or function properly because he was so wrapped up in the role.  Who really knows how long he'd been taking sleeping pills before his death, but I DO BELIEVE that actors get wrapped up in the roles they are playing and sometimes take on the personalities of the characters involved.  I wouldn't call it "possession", but rather  an intense connection in order to "pull off" the role.  In other stories, it's also been reported that actors playing serial killers are so submersed in their portrayals that they "lose themselves" for awhile.  The thing about actors, if they're any good, they try and BECOME the part they are playing, which is sometimes dangerous when dealing with an already fragile psyche.

Answer 16

No, I solely think it is all on the actor's abilities to get "into" their character.  Some actors really study & get so involved with their characters everyday lives to get a feel for what the life of that person was like.  If the person is still alive, they will go & talk with them & family & friends.

  Aviator is an excellant example of that as well as Ghosts of Mississippi.

Answer 17

I personally think obsessed is a better term than possessed for what happens to some actors. Since the Joker and most other TV and movie characters aren't real there shouldn't be any person (or spirit) to possess the actor.

I don't know if this actually happened but there is a somewhat famous story among actors that says Dustin Hoffman was really struggling to understand a part and get into the character and he approached Sir Lawrence Olivier with this problem and was told "just act".

Psi

Answer 18

you know, I was thinking that same thing this morning when i read that on the net!! I think it may have been that way. Maybe he was possessed by a bad spirit and he also was that way when he was playing the Joker AND his last role. Yes, I agree with you.    Who joined us???? tell me