Editor's note: 'The Program' hits Australian cinemas on Thursday, November 26, 2015. Check out Ben Foster's amazing transformation (along with some other actors) below, courtesy of our friends at The Huffington Post UK.
Lance Armstrong's stunning rise and devastating fall from grace has already proved ripe fruit for documentary analysis, and now he's getting the full feature film treatment, with Stephen Frears' 'The Program' bringing to screen the US superstar and his achievements on the road with the bike, and in the caravan with the drip.
Playing Lance Armstrong through the course of nearly two decades is no mean feat - incorporating his time as a (relatively) normal blossoming athlete, in hospital as the emaciated sufferer of testicular and brain cancer, and through his years of chemically-induced strength on two wheels.
Ben Foster gives it his all as shamed champion Lance Armstrong in 'The Program'
To get into the mindset of the shamed former champion, Ben Foster embedded himself with the world-renowned Garmin pro-cycling team for two weeks, also meticulously studying archive footage of Armstrong riding in tournaments. Foster even adopted his distinct hunchbacked riding style, as if he “wants to break the bike”. Notably, Foster recently revealed that he covertly took performance-enhancing drugs, as Armstrong infamously did, as part of his research for the role.
In doing all this, Ben has joined those actors willing to sacrifice their good looks in favour of full immersion into the role. Others have been just as committed, but instead of changing shape, they've opted to adopt their own 'method', living in the environment of their character, however testing. Here is how far Ben went, and some of his acting peers willing to throw it all in... There's a big Oscar haul in this list, but is it worth it?
'The Program' will be released in UK cinemas on 16 October.