Actors have been known to gain weight, lose weight, learn a new language, take dance lessons, get hair extensions, bind their feet or get surgery to play a role. It is all in the name of the character. Mary-Louise Parker, star of the Showtime series "Weeds," faced horrible pain for a scene that will air during this fourth season of "Weeds" on the cable channel.

If you don't pay for Showtime (and if you steal it, I don't want to know), Parker plays a suburban mom who sells pot to make a living. This year she's moved out of the suburbs but the drug dealing has not stopped.

Parker was in the middle of filming a scene where she was getting physical (wink, wink). And in the course of that moment, Parker broke her toe.

That begs the question, how does one break a toe while in the throws of passion?

"Commitment," Parker tells television critics who have gathered in Los Angeles to preview the upcoming TV season.

Parker smiles before she explains, "I fell. I just smashed it on the bed frame after a backwards walk and a hop-up and a straddle and a smashing backup. It was smashed on the bed frame on the first take. So if you see the scene, the whole scene is played with a broken toe."

This was the first injury for Parker despite having played the role in the superb cable series for more than three seasons. Parker, whose better known for her stage and film work, has played this character longer than any other in her career.

She has played the character of Nancy Botwin long enough to have a real handle on the role and why she keeps coming back. Showtime has ordered two more seasons.

"I think probably the thing that I derive the most pleasure from in playing her is that (executive producer) Jenji (Kohan) brings me a lot of surprises all the time. And so whenever I get the scripts or whenever she comes to me and says, 'This is where it's going,' I'm consistently surprised I sort of thrive on extremes.
I think that's maybe the one thing I have in common with the character, if anything at all. And I like that it's gone to extreme places," Parker says. "That's what I like about it the most. She's never flatlined for me. Because I think that would be a certain kind of hell.
"If I felt like I was playing something that just stayed the same and some sort of polite reality, I think I'd probably want to blow my brains out. I don't think I could do that show."