If this isn't proof that Angelina Jolie is pushing the limits with her next film project, I don't know what is. In her new cover interview with Vanity Fair , one of the stars of Angelina Jolie's upcoming film Unbroken , Miyavi, revealed that he became physically ill due to the intensity of the film's plotline.
In the interview, Miyavi — whom Jolie cast as "a vicious sergeant named Matsuhiro Watanabe in the prisoner-of-war camp" where the subject of her film, Louis Zamperini (portrayed by Skins star Jack O'Connell), spent two years as a prisoner during World War II — recalled the "torture" he felt having to play such a hateful role, and the toll it took on him to delve deeply into the character.
"It was awful torture for me to hate the other actors—I had to have hatred for them," Miyavi said. "When I had to beat them, I had to think about protecting my family. At the same time, I didn't want to be just a bad guy. I wanted to put humanity in this role. [Matsuhiro] was both crazy and sadistic, but also weak and traumatized."
But just how much did the intensity of the film affect him? Pretty heavily: According to the interview, during one scene where his character was brutalizing O'Connell's Zamperini, Miyavi revealed that he threw up after — and after many of the films more intense torture scenes, "I couldn't stop crying."
While it's no surprise that Jolie was able to coax such emotional depth from her actors — after all, her last directorial effort, In the Land of Blood and Honey, was a heavy film as well — it's definitely looking like Unbroken is shaping up to be her most intense yet.
Unbroken, as previously reported, is somewhat of a biographical account of the late inspiration Louis Zamperini's time during World War II: First as an Olympian-turned-soldier, then as a soldier turned prisoner-of-war for two years — after he survived 47 days lost at sea. The film will hit theaters on Dec. 25.
