50 Cent lose over 50 pound in 10 week to play a cancer patient inAllThings settle Apart(2011 ) .
Hollywood actors often face immense pressure to conform to unrealistic body standards, especially during filming. The need to drastically alter their physiques often leads to unhealthy diet and exercise habits. Here are some male actors who have opened up about their own experiences with transforming their bodies for the big screen:
1.Mark Wahlberggained30 pounds for the movieFather Stu (2022), where he played a boxer who becomes a Catholic priest who lives with a rare muscular degenerative disease.
Hesaid,“I was just turning 50 by the time we finished the movie, and I was eating 11,000 calories a day. That drastic weight gain really took a toll on me over the course of the last seven, eight months.”
2.Charles Meltongainedaround 40 pounds for his role in the movieMay December (2023).
The director Todd Haynessaidthat he wanted Charles to gain the weight to “change his chiseled self into something more familiar: a suburban man in this place.”
3.Kumail Nanjianigainedabout 25 pounds of muscle for the Marvel movieEternals (2021).
To do this, heworked outfive days a week doing a bodybuilding split, where he focused on one or two muscle groups at a time. He also followed a high-protein, moderate-fat diet and kept his carbs low during the week and then loaded up on the weekends.
4.Joaquin Phoenixlost 52 poundsforJoker (2019)because director Todd Phillips thought the character would be “super thin.”
Joaquin lost the weight with the guidance of a doctor, butsaidthe experience still affected his eating habits and mental health afterwards.
5.Matthew McConaugheylost47lbs for his role as an emaciated AIDS patient inDallas Buyers Club(2013).
He got down to 143lbs in a super unhealthy and unrealistic way, which left him “always hungry and irritable.” McConaugheysaidthe whole process was “tough going, I’m not going to lie. The dieting was pretty hardcore. I was losing 7lbs every week. I’d have a Diet Coke, two egg whites in the morning, a piece of chicken, then another Diet Coke.”
6.Jared Leto alsolost 40 poundsfor the filmDallas Buyers Club(2013). He’s said the weight loss affected him. “It changes the way you walk, the way you sit, the way you think.”
7.Jared Leto alsolost 28 poundsto play a heroin addict in Requiem for a Dream (2000). At one point he was even chewing on shoe leather to try to curb his hunger. This unhealthy behavior left him “in a constant state of hunger,” and he said he “started fainting when I was on the set.”
8.Jared Leto alsogained60 pounds to play Mark David Chapman, John Lennon’s murderer, inChapter 27(2007).The diet caused him to get gout. “I couldn’t walk long distances; I had a wheelchair because it was so painful. My body was in shock from the amount of weight I gained.”
9.Christian Balelost 63 poundsin the four months of pre-production forThe Machinist(2004).His daily diet was an apple, a can of tuna, and coffee.
10.Christian Bale alsoput on40lbs in a short amount of time to play former Vice President Dick Cheney inVice(2018).
To gain the weight, he shared the one specific food that he ate often. “I’ve just eaten a lot of pies, so far,” hetoldVariety. He also went to a professional to help him gain the weight. “It’s never healthy to put on that amount of weight in a short amount of time, but I did it in the healthiest manner,” hesaid.
11.Bradley Cooperhad togain a noticeable amount of weight for his role inAmerican Sniper(2014). He ended up gaining over 40lbs while training.
Bradleysaid, “It was a real shock to my body. If it’s pizza and cake, that’s one thing. Putting 6,000 calories a day in your body gets old quick.” During this time, Bradley’s daily diet included five meals, a pre- and post-workout drink, and energy bars.
12.50 Cent lost over 50 pounds in 10 weeks to play a cancer patient inAllThings Fall Apart(2011).
He did this by having a liquid diet andrunning on the treadmillfor three hours a day. His managertold himto see a doctor when a lot of the weight came off, but 50 Cent said, “I just didn’t want to go because I had to match the look in my mind. I was so into what I was doing that I wasn’t really concerned with that. I just kept looking at myself in the mirror feeling like I have to be smaller. I had to match.”
13.Chris Hemsworthlost 33 poundsin four weeks forIn the Heart of the Sea(2015), where he played a starving whaler.
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To lose weight, he ate only 500 calories a day. “At one point, a day’s rations were a boiled egg, a couple of crackers, and a celery stick,” hesaid.
14.Matt Damonlost 50 poundsfor a role as a heroin addict that required only two days of filming inCourage Under Fire(1996).
His diet consisted mostly of chicken breast. His daily intake was around 100 calories, and he ran 13 miles a day, which caused him to experience hot flashes and dizzy spells. The dietdamagedhis adrenal gland, and he spent a year and a half on medication to try and fix it.
15.Tom Hardy bulked up a lot for his role as Bane inThe Dark Knight Rises(2012). He gained over 30lbs for it.
Hesaidabout the drastic physical change, “I haven’t damaged my body, but I’m certainly a bit achier than I used to be! I certainly have joints that click that probably shouldn’t click, you know what I mean? And carrying my children is a little bit harder than it used to be.”
16.And finally, forThe Midnight Sky(2020), George Clooneylost 30 poundsto play an astronomer with cancer.
George ended uphospitalizedwith pancreatitis four days before filming began. “I think I was trying too hard to lose the weight quickly and probably wasn’t taking care of myself,” he said.
If you ’re handle with an eating disorder and need someone to talk to , theNational Eating Disorders Associationhelpline is 1 - 800 - 931 - 2237 . For 24/7 crisis financial support , textual matter “ NEDA ” to 741741 .
