He played his break-through role so convincingly that women ran from him, believed he was dumb

Vincent D’Onofrio is perhaps best remembered for his iconic role as the chubby, inept Marine recruit in Stanley Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket. Despite his impressive performance, his popularity took a dive afterward.

The ruggedly handsome actor, who turned 64 on June 30, 2023, revealed that the role required a dramatic physical transformation, which resulted in him losing the appeal he once held with women who swooned over his curly dark hair and athletic build.

Vincent D’Onofrio’s résumé is as lengthy as it is diverse. He always puts 200% into every part and fully embodies his characters, making the audience forget who he is in real life.

The Brooklyn-born actor began his career in stage productions, both off-Broadway and on, while holding various side hustles such as being a bodyguard for Yul Brynner and Robert Plant to support his dreams of becoming an actor. In his early days, he also worked as a nightclub bouncer, delivered flowers, hung drapes, and drove a cab.

After appearing in a couple of low-budget films, D’Onofrio’s friend, actor Matthew Modine, encouraged him to send an audition tape to Stanley Kubrick, who was casting for his next big hit at the time. The 6-foot-3 D’Onofrio, who was incredibly fit, won the role of the fat, dim-witted Leonard, but it came with a few conditions.

Working with Kubrick was a transformative experience for D’Onofrio, allowing him to immerse himself deeply in his character and explore his acting abilities in a challenging and intense environment.

The father of three had to shave his full head of gorgeous hair and gain 70 to 80 pounds, which remains the most weight gained by any actor for a role. “Kubrick asked me early on if I’d be all right with gaining this weight. I went over there and gained about 30 pounds, and I remember him seeing it and saying I only look like I could kick everybody’s ass. He thought more weight would be needed,” D’Onofrio explained. “I think it went up to 80 pounds…from 200 to 280.”

Gaining the weight was not easy for D’Onofrio, who then faced the grueling demands of the movie’s boot-camp scenes. Obstacle courses would have been easy with his athletic build, but it was particularly taxing for someone weighing in at 280 pounds.

D’Onofrio’s impressive portrayal of the chubby, mentally disturbed Leonard earned him a lot of praise from critics, but he also had to deal with fans who mistook the actor for the character. “People treat you differently when you’re that size. You gotta remember my head was shaved, so it was like a completely different persona from me being this long lanky actor to a big burly guy with a bald head…it was a very strange life change,” the Broken Horses star continued. “It changed my life. Women didn’t look at me; most of the time, I was looking at their backs as they were running away. People used to say things to me twice because they thought I was stupid.”

One year later, the Magnificent Seven star had a full head of hair again, and his body was back to his earlier size.