The startling ways actors gain weight for roles
Previously, we’ve looked at some of the biggest transformations actors have undertaken for movie roles, but have you ever thought about what it took to get there?
It sounds like the perfect job in the world – eating all your favourite foods, all time, AND getting paid for it. For some actors, that’s just part of their job description. But you might be surprised to learn it’s not quite as pleasant as it sounds when it comes to piling on the kilos for a movie role.
Here we take a look at the extreme lengths some of Hollywood’s finest have gone to just for a film.
Matthew McConaughey
For his latest role as prospector Kenny Wells in the recent film Gold, McConaughey packed on 20kg – much to the delight of his children. “I was an all-star in my family, nicknamed Captain Fun during that time because I was yes to pizza night, every night and it was cheeseburgers and beer,” the Oscar winner said at an early screening of the film. It’s a stark contrast to his transformation for the film Dallas Buyers Club, when he dropped more than 20kg to play AIDS patient Ron Woodroof.
Jared Leto
In 2007, in preparation to play Mark David Chapman (John Lennon’s killer) in the film Chapter 27, Leto gained a whopping 30kg. “I would take pints of chocolate Haagen Dazs [ice cream] and put them in the microwave and drink them,” he told Contact Music. “The sick thing is I would actually pour olive oil and soy sauce into the mixture as well to get me bloated even more.” His doctors feared for his life after the extreme diet caused his cholesterol to rise 300 points.
Russell Crowe
The Aussie star gained around 28kg for his role in the 2008 film Body of Lies thanks to lots of cupcakes and even cheeseburgers for breakfast – but he, too, faced potential health issues. “I was enjoying myself, because I was eating and drinking what I liked, but my body was objecting,” he told Contact Music. “At one point, I worried about it from a health point of view because I had my cholesterol checked. It had reached dangerous territory.”
Matt Damon
Unlike some of the others on this list, Damon enjoyed the weight gain experience so much he found it difficult to stop! The star, who piled on nearly 15kg for his role in 2009’s The Informant, told the Daily Mail it was “very, very easy” and “very, very fun” to gain the weight. “I definitely got doughy. I started eating like crazy and drinking dark beer. Between meals on set, I’d eat a No. 1 Value Meal at McDonald’s and then Doritos on top of it. It was absolute heaven.”
Related links:
10 shocking transformations by actors for movie roles
10 actors with surprising famous relatives
7 actors who refuse to watch their own films