Natalie Portman said preparing for her role in ‘Black Swan’ took a huge physical and emotional toll. “It was about a year of ballet preparation that sort of ramped up as the film got closer. It started out for a couple of hours a day, then five hours a day, then more like eight hours and it was very intense but really fun, too,” Portman said. At her side were some of the world’s top dancers, coaches, and teachers in the ballet universe.
Portman was 29 when she chiseled off 20 pounds to create Nina, a beautiful young ballerina whose relentless ambition drives her to the edge of sanity. Her diet, equally crazy, subsisted on very little besides rabbit food—a lot of carrots and almonds. Between extreme dieting and brutal 8-hour-long dance rehearsals, Portman said, “There were some nights that I thought I literally was going to die.”
Matthew McConaughey Shed Significant Body Mass for ‘Dallas Buyers Club’
Matthew McConaughey dropped almost 50 pounds to play Ron Woodroof, a Texas AIDS patient given 30 days to live, in the brilliant film 'Dallas Buyers' Club.' To look like a man emaciated from HIV, he not only cut his caloric intake but also burned 1,800 additional calories a day with heavy exercise.
His wife Camila restricted his eating by preparing his meals. He set a goal to lose four pounds per week. He lost a grand total of 47 pounds. To make sure his weight loss was as healthy as possible, he met up with a nutritionist. He had the desired appearance in mind.
Jonah Hill Packed on the Pounds for ‘War Dogs’
In 2016, Jonah Hill rounded his figure out an extra 40 pounds to look like real-life arms contractor and weapons dealer, Efraim Diveroli. But after the film wrapped, Hill was ready to get rid of the heavyset look, so he dialed up his '21 Jump Street' co-star Channing Tatum and asked him to hook him up with his trainer and nutritionist.
He took up Jiu Jitsu. At a gym in Manhattan, he has worked with a trainer doing boxing moves. He’s not as comfortable sharing his workout routine as other stars are. But Hill is happy to be in shape. “I really believe everyone has a snapshot of themselves from a time when they were young that they’re ashamed of. For me, it’s that 14-year-old overweight and unattractive kid who felt ugly to the world who listened to hip-hop and who wanted so badly to be accepted by this community of skaters.”
Matt Damon “Ate Nothing but Chicken” for ‘Courage Under Fire’
Transforming his body to play an army medic Specialist, Andrew Ilario, in 'Courage Under Fire' (1996) was an enormous sacrifice for award-winning actor Matt Damon. He said, “I had to run about 13 miles a day, which wasn’t even the hard part. The hard part was the diet.” The same thing every single day. “All I ate was chicken breast!," Damon shared on Reddit.
Losing weight produced a drastic transformation. The Massachusetts-born actor got down to 139 pounds, which was a big drop from his normal weight of 190 pounds. It took a significant strain on his health; Damon was placed on adrenal gland medication for a year to repair damage from extreme stress. But it was worth it. Damon’s method-acting commitment impressed director Francis Ford Coppola, who gave him the lead in 'The Rainmaker' the following year.
Renée Zellweger Beefs Up (Again) in ‘Edge of Reason’
Playing the titular character in 'Bridget Jones’s Diary' required a significant weight-gain commitment for Renee Zellweger, so when the sequel, Edge of Reason, came around, the same 30-pound weight-gain requirement did too. Zellwegger said, “I knew that it was essential in repeating the journey...And if you’re not going to become the character and be the character, then I don’t really see the point in undertaking the experience.” Gaining weight was not her concern, delivering her best “Bridget Jones” was all.
To fill out from a size 4 to a 14, she ate burgers with the crew, sampling all the local burger joints. Keeping the weight on was a bit more difficult than she thought because the demanding schedule of the shoot kept her on her toes and burning calories. And, according to a crew member, some measures had to be taken. “In one scene they had to pad out her bottom,” said the crew member.