There’s a good reason that summer is the most popular season for weddings: the sun is usually shining as it brightens our big day. Sadly, the heat can sometimes be too much to handle. Here’s how to combat really hot weather on your wedding day.

Keep Hydrated
One of the most important rules on any hot day is to make sure that you – and your guests – keep hydrated throughout the day. Be sure to have plenty of water on offer at all times. Dropping down on the dance floor thanks to dehydration probably isn’t the way that many want to end their night.
Weather-Proof Your Makeup
It might be time to think about powder-based makeup instead of liquids to ensure nothing runs in the heat. To top it off, a light spritz of setting spray can go a long way when it comes to combating the heat.

Opt For An Up-Do
Sure, long, flowing locks might sound like a good idea, but the rising temperature could soon see your hairdo take a turn. Opting for an up-do could help to keep your neck cooler and stop any humidity from altering your wedding day style.
Get Water Misters
It’s not just the bride and groom who will feel the effects of the heat, your guests are probably going to get just as hot. Thankfully, a few water misters could be all it takes to help people stay cool – especially if you’ve opted for an outdoor shindig. Fans can also be a great alternative indoors.
There is usually a lot to think about on your big day, and trying to stay cool is one thing that many could do without. Thankfully, it turns out there could be some simple ways to combat really hot weather on your wedding day to help put your mind at ease once and for all.
40+ Incredible Skills Actors Actually Learned for Films
Acting isn’t just about dressing up in a costume and learning lines. Whether it’s learning an instrument, perfecting a language, or training in a sport, these actors actually skilled up to star in these films.
Timothée Chalamet – Call Me by Your Name
Timothée Chalamet learned multiple skills for his role as Elio Perlman in Call Me by Your Name. The New York City-born actor traveled to Italy a month and a half before shooting began, and started by trying to pick up the language. He also spent four hours a day learning how to play the piano and the guitar.

Kate Winslet – Avatar 2
Several actors on this list learned to hold their breath underwater while working on movies, starting with English actress Kate Winslet. For James Cameron’s upcoming sequel, Avatar 2, Winslet learned to free-dive, and to stay underwater for over seven minutes.

This highly anticipated film was initially announced way back in 2006, but the technology needed to shoot underwater performance capture scenes didn’t exist yet. After multiple delays, it’s currently slated to be released at the end of 2022.
Tom Cruise – Mission Impossible: Fallout
Some actors are known for doing their own stunts, and action movie star Tom Cruise is one of them. In the Mission Impossible series, Cruise has learned to do all sorts of dangerous activities including deep water diving and scaling the Burj Khalifa.

For the sixth installment, Mission Impossible: Fallout, the actor spent over 2,000 hours training to be a helicopter pilot. Cruise learned how to do a corkscrew dive, and actually flew the helicopter in a chase scene in the movie. That’s impressive!
Nicolas Cage – Captain Corelli’s Mandolin
To star in 2001’s Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, actor Nicolas Cage learned to play the mandolin. The star took lessons from Paul Englishby, who also taught Hugh Grant how to play guitar for the talent show scene in About a Boy.

Englishby commented on Cage’s impressive mandolin skills, and added, “He really is very talented. Nicolas used to go away for the weekend. He had a private jet and one weekend he asked me to go to Venice with him so he could have his music lessons.”
Uma Thurman – Kill Bill
As Beatrix “The Bride” Kiddo in the Kill Bill series, Uma Thurman transformed into a yellow suited, cut-throat, action star. For the role, Thurman learned three different styles of Kung Fu, knife throwing and fighting, two types of sword-fighting, and hand to hand combat. Oh, and she also learned Japanese.

Thurman has since described the eight-hour training days as “absurd.” Apparently she, Vivica A. Fox, Lucy Liu, Daryl Hannah, and David Carradine all trained, and got in trouble if they were even one minute late.
Jacob Elordi – The Kissing Booth
Teen romcom The Kissing Booth was released in 2018 and follows quirky girl Elle as she falls for her best friend’s bad-boy older brother. For his role as Noah Flynn, Australian actor Jacob Elordi learned how to ride a motorbike while filming in South Africa.

Speaking about the experience, Elordi said he was put on a motorcycle on the freeway and told to spend some time figuring it out. We’re not sure that’s the best driving advice, but thankfully it worked out okay.
Chadwick Boseman – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Chadwick Boseman’s last movie, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom follows an influential blues singer in 1920s Chicago. Tragically, the actor passed away during post-production in 2020, and the film was dedicated to his memory.

In order to play struggling musician Levee Green in the film, Boseman learned to play the trumpet from scratch. He was often heard practicing in his hotel room. Boseman’s co-star Glynn Turman has since commented that the actor’s devotion inspired everyone else to be as good as him.
Ryan Gosling – The Notebook
Romantic drama The Notebook has made millions of teenagers cry since its release in 2004. Starring Ryan Gosling as Noah, and Rachel McAdams as Allie, the film follows a young couple who grow together and fall apart in the 1940s.

To step into Noah’s shoes, Ryan Gosling learned how to build furniture just like his woodworker character. The actor lived in South Carolina for two months, rowed every morning, and learned how to make high-quality pieces. In fact, some of his work was included in the movie.
Natalie Portman – Black Swan
When it comes to playing athletes in movies, many actors will train in preparation. This means they can understand the movements and have a realistic body shape. That’s what Natalie Portman did for her role as a prima ballerina in 2010’s Black Swan.

Portman trained for up to eight hours per day and even dislocated a rib during rehearsals. Looking back, she said, “It was the first time I understood how you could get so wrapped up in a role that it could sort of take you down.”
Margot Robbie – I, Tonya
Australian actress Margo Robbie goes all out when it comes to her roles, both in terms of skills and physical appearance. For black comedy I, Tonya, the actress trained four hours a day, five days a week for five months to play Olympic figure skater, Tonya Harding.

Eventually, Robbie could perform the entire first minute of Harding’s 1994 Olympic routine herself. The actress’s skating coach wanted her to be comfortable on the ice, so she could “have emotion without separating her feet from her character.”
The Cast of A Quiet Place
A Quiet Place is a notable movie for being almost completely free of spoken dialogue. The horror film was directed by John Krasinksi and features a family trying to survive in a post-apocalyptic world. Basically, if anyone makes a sound, they die.

Deaf actress Millicent Simmonds was cast as Krasinski’s daughter in the movie, prompting the whole cast to learn the entire script in American Sign Language. Millicent was also a consultant for the film, which uses sign language throughout.
Adrien Brody – The Pianist
War drama The Pianist was directed by Roman Polanksi and released in 2002. Based on a Holocaust memoir, the film follows the life of Polish-Jewish pianist and composer Władysław Szpilman. For his role as the movie’s protagonist, actor Adrien Brody took home the Academy Award for Best Actor. He was the youngest actor to do so.

In order to realistically portray the composer, Brody played the piano for four hours per day, learning complex pieces. He also left his apartment, sold his car, and moved to Europe.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt – The Walk
For his role in 2015’s The Walk, actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt had the privilege of learning directly from the person he was playing. French high-wire artist Philippe Petit taught Gordon-Levitt how to tightrope walk so that he could portray him in the biopic.

Petit tightrope walked between the World Trade Center towers in 1974, when he was just 24 years old. Eventually, Joseph Gordon-Levitt could walk six to eight feet off the ground, and even tried walking without a harness to get the real feeling.
Bradley Cooper – A Star Is Born
Many actors go through voice coaching for a role, some with more success than others. While an unfortunate few end up sounding like Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins, others manage to absolutely nail it. For his role as troubled singer Jackson Maine in A Star Is Born, actor and director Bradley Cooper worked for six months to sound just like Sam Elliot.

Amusingly, before Elliot was even cast as Cooper’s character’s brother in the film, Cooper had trained to imitate his California-Texas drawl.
Russell Crowe – Master and Commander
Epic war drama Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World is adapted from three novels, which are themselves part of a series of 20 novels. This massive movie cost $150 million to make, and won Best Picture and Best Director at the 2004 Academy Awards.

For his role as Royal Navy Captain, Jack Aubrey, Russell grow did one-on-one tutorials with a real captain, and learned to sail a tall ship. Impressively, Crowe also learned to play the violin for this movie.
Liu Yifei – Mulan
Before she’d even been cast in Disney’s live-action remake of Mulan, Chinese actress Liu Yifei was an accomplished martial artist. Known as “Fairy Sister” in her home country, Yifei previously starred in The Forbidden Kingdom alongside Jackie Chan and Jet Li.

For her leading role in Mulan, the actress trained in wushu — a range of Chinese fighting styles — for up to seven hours per day. The movie’s cinematographer noted that the actress did approximately 90% of her own stunts.
Jesse Eisenberg – Now You See Me
For his role as sleight of hand magician in heist thriller Now You See Me, actor Jesse Eisenberg learned how to actually perform close up magic. The star studied magic theory and fundamentals, and rehearsed the particular tricks featured in the movie.

Reflecting on his time learning magic, Eisenberg commented, “If you learn some of the basic principles, you can apply those principles to many different tricks or illusions.” The movie ended up with mixed reviews, but Eisenberg walked away with a life-long skill.
Mara Rooney – The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Based on Stieg Larsson’s novel, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is a crime thriller, about computer hacker Lisbeth Salander. To get into the role, actress Mara Rooney underwent several physical changes and learned some handy new skills.

In preparation, Rooney enrolled in computer training and learned how to hack. She also learned to ride a motorbike, skateboard, and kickbox. On top of all that, the actress shaved off her eyebrows, dyed and shaved her hair, got lots of piercings, and nailed a Swedish accent. Impressive!
Jennifer Lawrence – Winter’s Bone
This next actor kicked up a little bit of controversy when they picked up a new skill. Before she was known as Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games, actress Jennifer Lawrence played a teenage girl in Winter’s Bone.

Living in the Ozarks, Lawrence’s character struggles with poverty and trying to keep her family together. To prepare for the role, Lawrence learned how to chop wood, and realistically skin a squirrel. Perhaps unsurprisingly, animal rights organization PETA was not pleased.
Channing Tatum – Hail, Caesar!
Most people know Channing Tatum is a dancer. After his turn in dance movie Step Up, and his impressive performance of “Run The World (Girls)” on Lip Sync Battle, the star is known for his professional level moves.

That’s what the Coen Brothers were thinking of when they hired him to tap dance in the comedy film, Hail, Caesar! As it turns out, Tatum did not know how to tap dance and had to spend three months learning how, all for a six-minute scene.
Jon Favreau – Chef
Actor and director Jon Favreau has been involved in a bunch of great projects. He directed Elf, The Jungle Book, and The Mandalorian, and collaborated with Robert Downey Jr. for Iron Man. In 2014, Favreau wanted to get back to basics and made Chef, a low-key movie about a food truck.

To do so, the actor and director learned to cook to a professional standard. Now, years later, Favreau has a cooking show on Netflix, where he tries out recipes with celebrity guests.
Keanu Reeves – Point Break
In preparation for crime thriller Point Break, actors Keanu Reeves, Patrick Swayze, and Lori Petty all attended classes by “The surf doctor of Hollywood.” The stars spent two months learning how to ride waves properly, and Reeves liked it so much he ended up with a custom board by the end.

The Canadian actor has experience of learning new skills for movies. While filming The Matrix, he trained in kung fu, and for John Wick, he spent four months with the Navy SEALs.
Leonardo DiCaprio – The Revenant
For the movie that finally won Leonardo DiCaprio his long-awaited Academy Award, the actor learned to speak in a Native American dialect. In The Revenant, DiCaprio plays frontiersman, Hugh Glass, who has a Pawnee son. At various points in the film, they speak in the critically endangered Arikara language.

To learn this, DiCaprio — and the rest of the cast — worked with an indigenous cultural consultant. Only a few remaining elders still speak the dialect, making it quite an impressive feat.
Mahershala Ali – Green Book
Next up is another actor who decided to learn how to play the instrument he would be acting with on screen. For 2018’s Green Book, Mahershala Ali spent three months learning to play the piano with the film’s composer.

Speaking about the experience, the composer remembered, “Our first lesson, I figured we’d start with basics. I’d give him a major scale and some other things. […] I spent three hours with him playing the C major over and over again.”
Robert Downey Jr. – Chaplin
In 1992, Robert Downey Jr. portrayed legendary actor and comedian Charlie Chaplin in Richard Attenborough’s biopic Chaplin. In order to get into character, the actor learned to play the violin. However, the British entertainer was left-handed, so Downey Jr. learned to play the violin, and some tennis, using his left hand.

Ultimately, Chaplin was a box office bomb, though Robert Downey Jr. was still nominated for an Academy Award for his performance. The film also stars Marisa Tomei and Dan Aykroyd.
Reese Witherspoon – Walk the Line
In Walk the Line, actors Reese Witherspoon and Joaquin Phoenix play young entertainers June and Johnny Cash. To do their characters justice, both actors learned to play their respective instruments for the film. For Witherspoon, that was the autoharp, and for Cash, the guitar.

Witherspoon worked with Catherine O’Hara’s autoharp teacher, and for her efforts, walked away with the Academy Award for Best Actress. A well-loved biopic, the movie was also released with a soundtrack featuring songs performed by both actors.
Olivia Munn – X-Men: Apocalypse
Actress Olivia Munn turned down the role of Vanessa in Deadpool to play mutant Psylocke in 2016’s X-Men: Apocalypse. In preparation for the role, Munn trained for over five months to properly use a katana sword. The actress’s trainer commented that “she works really hard, so we went up levels very fast.”

Olivia Munn ended up doing 95% of her own stunts in the movie and has since kept up with her sword fighting. The actress even has her own sword closet at home.
Daniel Day-Lewis – The Last of the Mohicans
Known for his method acting, actor Daniel Day-Lewis goes all out to prepare for his roles. Prior to starring as part-Mohican fur trapper Nathaniel “Hawkeye” Poe in the epic historical drama The Last of the Mohicans, the actor lived as a survivalist. Day-Lewis went into the wilderness and learned to track, hunt, fish, and skin animals.

Incredibly, Day-Lewis did this for six months and continued to stay in character while on set. The actor only ate food he had hunted and even built an old-fashioned Native American canoe.
Dave Franco – Now You See Me
We’ve seen that actor Jessie Eisenberg learned close up magic for his role in Now You See Me, and it turns out co-star Dave Franco did the same. In the film, Franco plays Jack Wilder, an illusionist, impressionist, and pickpocket. However, his most impressive skill is card throwing.

After training with a master magician, Franco became a pro at skillfully throwing cards, and was even able to accurately pop balloons. In fact, he ended up nicking co-star Mark Ruffalo in the face.
Tobey Maguire – Spider-Man
There are other actors on this list that took on major projects in preparation for a role. They learned languages, they mastered instruments, they sculpted their bodies. Tobey Maguire’s newly acquired skill for Spider-Man isn’t as technically impressive, but it is iconic.

In Spider-Man, Maguire’s Peter Parker uses his superhero senses to catch Mary Jane and her lunch tray in one swift move. Rather than relying on CGI, Maguire put glue on his hands and relied on his own coordination. It took 156 takes, but it was worth it.
Sigourney Weaver – Gorillas in the Mist
She may be known as a sci-fi action hero, but Sigourney Weaver played naturalist Dian Fossey in 1988’s Gorillas in the Mist. Following the primatologist’s work with mountain gorillas in Rwanda, the movie featured many actual gorillas. In order to portray Fossey realistically, Weaver learned to communicate with the large apes.

The actress learned the appropriate body language to develop a bond with gorillas, and told The New York Times she had mastered “the rolling belches of ape-speak.” Eventually, they were all friends.
Michelle Pfeiffer – Batman Returns
In the sequel to Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman, Michelle Pfeiffer plays Catwoman, a woman turned whip-wielding criminal. Apparently, the actress was devastated to hear Annette Bening landed the role but ended up in the latex suit herself when Bening fell pregnant.

In preparation, Pfeiffer learned how to kickbox, and trained with a whip. In the scene where she lassos Christopher Walken around the neck, Pfeiffer required no cutaways or inserts. The actress did all her own whip work and even improvised a few moves.
John Krasinski – 13 Hours
He started off as the dorky but lovable Jim Halpert in The Office, but John Krasinski quickly transformed into a full-on Hollywood action hero. For his role in the war movie, 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi, the actor trained rigorously with the Navy SEALs.

He went through tactical and weapons training, and even learned how to maneuver through a burning building. Reflecting on the experience, Krasinski said, “Physically, it was an extremely intense workout.” Naturally, the actor’s body changed significantly, too.
Brad Pitt – Snatch
After enjoying Guy Ritchie’s Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels, Brad Pitt got in touch with the director and asked for a role in one of his movies. Pitt got his wish and landed the part of Mickey the Irish Traveler in crime drama Snatch.

In order to play the Irish boxer, Pitt worked with a dialect coach to master an authentic Irish Traveler accent. The outcome is pretty impressive, though unintelligible for most English speakers — including the other characters in the film.
Riz Ahmed – Sound of Metal
For 2019’s Sound of Metal, British actor Riz Ahmed plays a heavy metal musician who loses his hearing. Ahmed wanted to become almost fluent in sign language, so he worked with ASL coach Jeremy Lee Stone for seven months. The actor also spent time with members of the deaf community so he could fully understand the experience and lifestyle.

As well as spending eight hours a day studying ASL, Riz Ahmed spent two hours a day in drum lessons, and two hours a day with a personal trainer.
Robert De Niro – Taxi Driver
Amazingly, when a young Robert De Niro was preparing for his role as Travis Bickle, a Vietnam veteran and taxi driver, he actually became a taxi driver. The actor got himself a cab license and worked 12 hour days driving a taxi in New York City.

Driving around the city at night allowed De Niro to get into his character’s headspace, and blurred the lines between reality and fiction. The iconic actor is a fan of method acting and trained as a boxer before filming Raging Bull.
Demi Moore – G.I. Jane
In 1997’s G.I. Jane, Demi Moore plays the first woman to undertake special operations training. To play Lieutenant Jordan O’Neil, the actress trained with former Navy SEALS, and actually shaved her head.

Speaking about the film, Moore commented, “I could have come in and asked to let the stuntwoman do the obstacle course, but I felt I would have walked away having missed an opportunity experiencing, first-hand, what these people actually go through in training; it’s the whole reason for doing this film in the first place.”
Daniel Day-Lewis – My Left Foot
We’re back to Daniel Day-Lewis, the master of method acting. In comedy-drama My Left Foot: The Story of Christy Brown, the British-Irish actor played a writer with cerebral palsy. To authentically portray the experience, Day-Lewis spent most of his time in a wheelchair and learned to put a record on a turntable with his toes.

Thankfully, Daniel Day-Lewis also spent time speaking with disabled people to research this role. He also insisted on being carried and spoon-fed by the crew. Now, we’re not so sure about that.
Idris Elba – Long Walk to Freedom
British actor Idris Elba is impressively versatile. He played a Baltimore criminal on The Wire, a detective in Luther, and an all-seeing bounty hunter in a range of Marvel movies. In order to step into the shoes of former South African president and civil rights leader Nelson Mandela, Elba had to figure out the distinctive accent.

The actor based partly based his accent on his parents’. With a father from Sierra Leone and a mother from Ghana, the actor already had something to work from.
Jim Carrey – The Grinch
Compared with some of the other skills on this list, Jim Carrey’s takeaway from The Grinch was more of a symptom of the film than a pre-requisite. Basically, to play the green-skinned terror, Carrey had to sit in the makeup chair for a whopping eight and a half hours. The experience made him so frustrated that a producer had to step in with an innovative solution.

That’s how, while working on The Grinch, Jim Carrey learned how to endure torture. The actor worked with the CIA to get through it.
Margot Robbie – Suicide Squad
Actress Margot Robbie makes another appearance on our list, this time for her role as Harley Quinn in 2016’s Suicide Squad. Much like Tom Cruise and Kate Winslet, the actress trained with a freediver and learned to hold her breath underwater for five minutes.

In fact, the very competitive actress wanted to be able to hold her breath longer than her stunt double — and succeeded. Additionally, for the 2020 Harley Quinn-centered spin-off, Birds of Prey, Robbie learned how to throw knives.
Shia LeBeouf – Fury
Many actors in war movies decide to go through intense training in preparation for a role. For the 2014’s Fury, actor Shia LeBeouf joined the U.S. National Guard, got a tattoo, and got baptized. Now, that’s dedication.

LeBeouf even lived on an army base for a month and became the chaplain’s assistant. While Fury was in production, the actor didn’t bathe for four months and pulled out one of his own teeth. He has since said, “Fury is the most meat I’ve ever had to chew on.”
Jamie Foxx – Ray
In 2005, Jamie Foxx took home the Academy Award for Best Actor for his turn as rhythm and blues musician Ray Charles. Foxx could already play the piano — having started when he was just five years old. However, the actor wanted to nail it, so he prepared for each performance as though he were preparing for a live gig.

Foxx also had his eyes glued shut with prosthetic eyelids while shooting. This initially caused him to have panic attacks, and occasionally the crew forgot to help him off set.
Meryl Streep – Sophie’s Choice
In Sophie’s Choice, Meryl Streep plays a Polish immigrant with a dark secret. The actress was desperate for the role, and literally begged the director for the part. Once she was officially on board, Streep panicked about messing up the Polish accent her character spoke in.

To overcome this fear, Meryl Streep just learned Polish. Later, when the film required her to speak German, she learned it too. This meant that Streep’s character could speak German in a Polish accent, as she should.
Forest Whitaker – The Last King of Scotland
Let’s finish up our list of actors that skilled up for a film with Forest Whitaker’s turn in the historical drama, The Last King of Scotland. To play Ugandan President Idi Amin, the actor learned to speak Swahili, and gained a lot of weight.

Like many others on this list, Whitaker’s hard work paid off, and he landed the Academy Award for Best Actor for his efforts. Whitaker is known for his preparation – for Bird, he learned to play the saxophone even though the film didn’t require it.