The character of the fat and incompetent Marine recruit that Vincent D’Onofrio played in Stanley Kubrick’s film is arguably the one that people remember him for the most.
On the other hand, his popularity began to decline following that.
On June 30, 2023, the ruggedly attractive actor celebrated his 64th birthday. He stated that the part required a significant physically transformative change.
The upshot of this was that he turned off the women who had previously flocked to him because of his curly dark hair and his athletic build.
The curriculum vitae of Vincent D’Onofrio is not only extensive but also varied.
Every time he plays a role, he gives it his absolute best effort, and he is always able to transform himself into the character to the point that you forget who he is.
In order to finance his aspirations of being an actor, the actor, who was born in Brooklyn, began his career by performing in theatrical performances, including performing in some off-Broadway productions, and holding a number of side hustles, such as serving as a bodyguard to Yul Brynner and Robert Plant.
In the beginning of his career, he supported himself by working as a bouncer at nightclubs, selling flowers, hanging curtains, and driving a taxi.
But after D’Onofrio had been in a few low-budget films, his buddy, the actor Matthew Modine, encouraged him to send an audition tape to Stanley Kubrick, who was casting for his next major success at the moment. Kubrick was looking for someone to play the role of.
The 6-foot-3 D’Onofrio, who was in impeccable physical condition, was selected for the character of the chubby and dimwitted Leonard; nevertheless, the role came with a few stipulations.
Working with Kubrick was a life-changing event for D’Onofrio since it gave him the opportunity to completely submerge himself in his character and to test his acting skills in a setting that was both demanding and stressful.
The actor, who is now 64 years old and a father of three, was had to shave his lovely full head of hair and gain between 70 and 80 pounds for the role, which is the highest weight gained by any actor for a role to this day.
I went over there and added around 30 pounds, and I remember him seeing it and saying that I only look like I could kick everybody’s a**. Kubrick asked me early on if I would be okay with acquiring this weight, and I went over there and gained it. It was his opinion that some additional weight would be required. In continuation of his discussion of the character he performed when he was 24 years old, D’Onofrio stated, “I believe it went up to 80 pounds…from 200 to 280.”
Putting on the weight was not an easy feat for D’Onofrio, who was then confronted with the demanding requirements of the scenes that took place in the movie depicting the boot camp.
A person who weighed 280 pounds would have found obstacle courses to be exceptionally challenging, despite the fact that his athletic frame would have made them simple to complete.
It was D’Onofrio’s remarkable depiction of the fat, dumb, and mentally ill Leonard that garnered him a lot of accolades from critics. However, he also had to contend with fans who confused the actor for the character.
“It was a very strange life change,” she said. “When you’re that size, people treat you differently. You have to remember that my head was shaved, so it was like a completely different persona from me being this long and lanky actor to a big burly guy with a bald head.” The actor from Broken Horses continued, “It alters the course of my life.” I was looking at the backs of the women the majority of the time as they were fleeing, and they did not look at me. In the past, people would say things to me twice because they believed that I was completely foolish.
After a year had passed, the Magnificent Seven actor had a full head of hair and his body had returned to the size it had been before.