4. Though he’s only in the film for about 10 minutes, Donnie Wahlberg underwent a massive transformation to play Malcolm’s tortured former patient Vincent, losing 43 pounds in just five weeks.
“I remember Night saying, ‘This scene really has to kickstart the movie,'” the New Kids on the Block singer told THR. “I tried not to think about that burden and that responsibility and just try to honor the script and stay in tune with what I needed to play this part. I thought if I was in that room standing across from Bruce Willis and Olivia Williams and haven’t suffered and really gone through some really dramatic situations before I do this scene, how am I going to bare my clothes, never mind bare my soul? So that’s just where I went.”
As he explained, he went rather method to prepare for the production, moving to New York and staying in a friend’s apartment, “but with no money, no credit cards. I would fast for a couple of days at a time and then just eat vegetables, chew gum all day and then walk the streets. When I got to Philadelphia, I slept in the park one night and was going through this really crazy process.”
He couldn’t, however, go the full monty for his big moment, as he’d hoped, having to settle for appearing in his “tighty-whities” to ensure the film was rated PG-13.