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Adrien Brody went on an extreme diet to prepare himself to play Szpilman the pianist and classical composer in the film The Pianist.
‘There is an emptiness that comes with really starving that I hadn’t experienced,’ Brody said. ‘I couldn’t have acted that without knowing it. I’ve experienced loss, I’ve experienced sadness in my life, but I didn’t know the desperation that comes with hunger.’
‘I was very disturbed by what I embraced [in making that film], and the awareness that it opened up in me.’
We don’t need to get that close to our customers’ pain to tell a story that matters, but what is certain is that empathy changes us. How does it feel to be the person buying your product or service? What do they see? How far are you ready to go to find out?