Cillian Murphy’s physical transformation in upcoming summer epic Oppenheimer made headlines – but by Hollywood standards, his weight loss plan was pretty lame.
Murphy, 47, ate just one almond a day to shed the pounds and played scrawny scientist J Robert Oppenheimer, who famously survived on a diet of martinis and cigarettes.
Nicotine was a factor in Christian Bale’s extreme transformation for The Machinist, where he lost 62 pounds – or about a third of his body weight – by eating an apple and black coffee a day and taking up smoking.
However, Charlize Theron went to the opposite extreme after gaining 30 pounds for her Oscar-winning role in Monster, in which she played a serial killer. In a 2018 drama, she went even further: she gained 50 pounds by indulging in burgers, milkshakes and potato chips.
Below, highlights five dramatic changes celebrities have undergone for movies:
Christian Bale (pictured left in a 2002 film) is famous for his body transformations. One of the worst was when he lost 30kg to play the sleepless Trevor Reznik (pictured right).
How Christian Bale lost 62 pounds in four months to play the emaciated insomniac on The Machinist: An apple, a can of tuna, and a cup of black coffee a day
One of the most dramatic body transformations in Hollywood history is that of Christian Bale. The actor lost 30 kilograms, or a third of his weight, for a psychological thriller.
When cast in the 2004 film The Machinist as Trevor Reznik, a machinist who was emaciated from insomnia, the star set a goal to drop his weight from 182 pounds to just 120 pounds.
The move worked, reviewers commented on the dramatic change it made at the time — and the performance earned him a Best Actor nomination.
Mr Bale revealed he had lost weight in just four months after switching his normal diet to one apple, one can of tuna and one black coffee a day. He also smoked cigarettes to curb his appetite.
This was a meager diet of less than 200 calories per day, well below the 2,500 calorie recommended average for men.
To stay on top of things, Bale said he regularly sits around with headphones but doesn’t really listen to anything so he can hear what’s going on around him without getting distracted.
He added to GQ, “Also I had a very dirty habit of smoking back then.” “So I rolled my own cigarettes and sat there and puffed.”
Mr Bale has also gone the opposite way before, gaining up to 100kg for his role as Batman in The Dark Knight.
Years later, he gained weight again through his role in the 2018 film Vice. Mr Bale gained 40 pounds while playing 46th US Vice President Dick Cheney.
But speaking about his dramatic weight swings in 2019 at the age of 45, he said he can’t keep changing his body like he used to.
“I just can’t go on.” “I really can’t,” he told GQ. “My mortality stares me in the face.
“I’ve gotten a bit more boring now because I’m older and I feel like I’m going to die if I carry on what I’ve done in the past.” So I would prefer not to die.’
Curtis Jackson III, also known as 50 Cent, lost 54 pounds in 2011 for the film All Things Fall Apart, in which he played a football player with cancer (pictured right).
Curtis Jackson III (50 Cent): As a cancer patient, he walked on the treadmill three hours a day to lose 54 pounds
The movie star and rapper lost a dramatic 54 pounds — or a quarter of his weight — through an incredible transformation in 2011.
Curtis Jackson III, also known as 50 Cent, initially weighed in at 214 pounds.
But in just nine weeks, he lost his weight to 160 pounds due to his role as a football player with cancer in the 2012 film All Things Fall Apart.
The star achieved the transformation by staying hydrated and running on the treadmill for three hours a day.
Speaking about his motivation for such a dramatic weight loss in an interview with Parade Magazine, Jackson said the goal was to best reflect the reality of cancer.
He revealed that his best friend Charles Pringle, who lived across the street from him, was suffering from cancer and looked emaciated shortly before his death.
Describing his transformation, Jackson added, “The weight started to go away and my manager said to me, ‘You better go to the doctor!’
“I just didn’t want to go because I had to adjust the look in my head.
“I was so excited about what I was doing that I didn’t care at all.” I kept looking at myself in the mirror and felt like I needed to be smaller. I had to keep up.’
He added, “I had so much muscle that it was difficult for me to lose definition, even though I got lighter and leaner.”
“I started running to suppress my appetite. Towards the end it was really difficult. It felt like I wasn’t doing the story justice if I didn’t get close enough to how my best friend looked to me at that point before he died.
Matthew McConaughey (pictured left in Texas this year) gained 47 pounds in six months for his role as Kenny Wells (pictured right), a businessman who strikes gold in Indonesia in the 2017 film Gold
Matthew McConaughey: Ate pizza and cheeseburgers every night and gained 47 pounds in six months
One of the most shocking yo-yo body transformers in Hollywood is American actor Matthew McConaughey.
In 2013, after wrapping up filming Magic Mike, for which he needed a muscular physique, the actor shed all his extra muscle and lost his weight for Dallas Buyers Club.
In this 2013 drama he played Ron Woodruff – a Texas cowboy who is diagnosed with AIDS.
To best represent the character’s physique and illustrate the reality of the disease, Mr McConaughey lost 40 pounds in five months – from 188 pounds to 135 pounds.
This was achieved by consuming less than 500 calories per day. He ate an egg white for breakfast, while lunch and dinner included just five ounces of fish and a small side of vegetables.
The only snack he was allowed to eat was tapioca pudding, which McConaughey admitted to eating with the smallest spoon possible so it would last longer.
In 2017, the then 48-year-old actor went the opposite route and gained weight to play businessman Kenny Wells, who was prospecting for gold in Indonesia.
Overall, he gained more than 47 pounds over the course of six months for the role.
“I got freaking fat as Kenny Wells,” McConaughey told CNN at the time.
“I was a star in my family and got the nickname ‘Captain Fun’ at the time because I wanted to eat pizza every night and there were cheeseburgers and beer.”
On this diet, the star ate what she wanted, whenever she wanted – which included lots of pizza and cheeseburgers. He also quit the sport, concluding that even just walking up a flight of stairs would be too tiring if an elevator was available.
Speaking to Page Six, he said, “My favorite food is cheeseburgers, so I ate cheeseburgers all the time.”
“I’ve tried all these fast food restaurants that I’ve never eaten at or only eaten at once. Not so much candy. Cheeseburger and beer will do.’
The father-of-three said the biggest challenge is losing the weight afterwards.
“The hardest part was coming down… I would go from 217 to 211, really easy.” Then 211 to 209. Going past 210 was really tough. Then [going from] “209 to 201: easy,” he said.
Charlize Theron (pictured left before her weight change) gained 50 pounds in three months to play a pregnant mother of three with postpartum depression in the 2017 film Tully (right).
Charlize Theron After Gaining 50 Pounds To Play Pregnant Mom Of Three: ‘My Soul Just Felt Real Heavy’:
For the 2018 drama Tully, Charlize Theron had to gain 50 pounds in three months to play a pregnant mother of three with postpartum depression.
Ms Theron said the first three weeks of her weight gain program was “easy” but then it became a “chore” to eat all the foods needed to gain weight.
“The first three weeks are always fun because you’re like a kid in a candy store,” she told the Associated Press.
“So it was fun to have breakfast and two milkshakes at In-N-Out.
“And then, after three weeks, it’s not fun anymore.” “All of a sudden you’re done eating that amount and then it becomes a job.”
Describing the effects of that weight gain, she said, “I was very heavy, literally and figuratively.”
“My soul just felt really heavy watching this movie and I felt really unhealthy, I was throwing my back, I couldn’t sleep and I was lethargic.”
She finished filming just before Thanksgiving and said it delayed her dieting for the holiday in order to lose weight.
“Then when January came, it was like I could barely walk on a treadmill,” she said.
“My body just didn’t respond the way it did the last time I did that.’ It took a year and a half for the weight to come off.’
Chris Pratt (pictured left on Parks and Recreation) swapped his father’s physique for a more muscular physique (pictured right) for his role on Guardians of the Galaxy.
Chris Pratt on his dramatic transformation for Guardians of the Galaxy movie: I lost 60 pounds while eating 4,000 calories a day
Chris Pratt is best known for the comedy series Parks and Recreation, which premiered in 2009 and ran until 2015, where he played the goofy Andy Dwyer.
But within five years, he traded in his father’s body for a slimmer and more chiseled appearance in the 2014 film Guardians of the Galaxy.
To prepare for the role, Mr. Pratt lost 60 pounds following a strict diet and exercise plan that included lifting weights, running and swimming for four hours a day.
He also ate more than 4,000 calories a day but said he still lost weight because he was now eating the right foods.
“I’ve actually lost weight by eating more, but the right food,” he told PEOPLE magazine.
“When I finished the film, my body wasn’t in starvation mode. “It wasn’t like I was tempted to just stuff myself and get really fat again.”
Mr. Pratt has retained the character and landed a role as park ranger Owen in 2015’s Jurassic World – a nerd’s dream for the actor.
Cillian Murphy wouldn’t reveal how much weight he’d lost to portray J Robert Oppenheimer, the scientist who developed the atomic bomb
Cillian Murphy on preparing for the role of the scientist who invented the atomic bomb: I survived on an almond a day
The most recent celebrity transformation was Cillian Murphy for his role in the movie Oppenheimer.
In the thriller, the 47-year-old actor plays scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer, who works on the development of the atomic bomb during World War II.
As is well known, the scientist survived on a martinis and cigarette diet – and hardly took any time to eat.
And Mr. Murphy went to extreme lengths to achieve the same look – he only ate one almond a day.
“I ran with crazy energy; “I crossed a threshold where I didn’t have to worry about food or anything like that,” he told the Guardian.
“I was so into it, in a state of hyper… hyper-something, but it was good because the character was like that. ‘He never ate.’
The weight loss was achieved six months before filming began and Mr. Murphy did not disclose how much weight he had lost or what his final weight was.