In just eight weeks, Colin Farrell put on 45 pounds of fat. He accomplished this by sitting around and doing nothing while loading up on pizza, Haagen-Dazs, and cheeseburgers. There was no portion control. He revealed to Hollywood Reporter he would put a tub of ice cream in the microwave to melt it to a drinkable state. But it wasn’t all fun and games. “Two cheeseburgers, fries and Coca-Colas, and two slices of chocolate cake at 10 a.m. is not that fun,” Farrell said.
The Irish actor played a comedic role about a guy who must find love within 45 days or be turned into the animal of his choice. In the surreal comedy, Farrell’s character chooses a lobster. At the world premiere of the film, Farrell saw himself on the screen without a shirt for the first time. “I gasped,” he said. “I’d forgotten what it looked like.” Not pleased with his “dad bod,” he got back into shape immediately.
Rooney Mara Transformed Herself for ‘The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo’
Getting into the headspace of Lisbeth Salander found Rooney Mara dyeing her hair black after chopping it off, taking on facial (and other) body piercings, submitting to severe weight loss, and committing to a 150-day shoot living alone in Stockholm. The character, created by novelist Stieg Larsson, is a dark and repressed young woman. Mara went for the pale and anorexic look to portray her. The final effect had bystanders averting their eyes, a relief for a celeb.
She also researched Asperger’s, because some speculate it is part of Lisbeth’s antisocial bent. When asked if the weight loss she endured was unhealthy, Mara said, “Umm . . . not really.” She barely ate, but that’s not difficult for some. What she struggled with was shooting the violent rape scenes. “I don’t know how to describe it,” she said. “I think, physically, it was hardest,” she told Vogue in 2011.
Ewan McGregor Plumps Up in ‘Fargo’
Sitting at dinner with 'Fargo' creator Noah Hawley in Los Angeles, just three months before production was scheduled to begin, Ewan McGregor was 45 years old and in the shape of his life. That’s when he learned for the first time that his physique was not going to be compatible with his new role. “You need to put on weight,” Hawley told him.
His new routine went something like this: “From October until January, when we started filming, I just started eating whatever I wanted. I made sure that I had carbs with everything and French fries with everything. I didn’t have any technique other than eating a lot.” McGregor avoided standing on a scale, so he never weighed himself. When he went to pick up some Levi’s that fit him, however, the change was obvious. The size of the new pair was three inches bigger than his regular size.
Mila Kunis Became a Full-time Ballerina for 'Black Swan'
Mila Kunis is known for being one of the most beautiful actresses in Hollywood, and that includes her gorgeous physique. But that still wasn't enough for Kunis to portray the extremely thin ballerina Odile, in Aronofsky's 'Black Swan.' The actress had to lose 20 pounds in just five short months, engaging in a low-carb, high-protein, 1200-calorie diet and rigorous training five hours every day of the week. Kunis even had a private food delivery service that brought her salads every day.
Kunis said the whole experience left a mark on her, as she understood for the first time what actual professional dancers have to go through to make it to the top. "I weighed 95 pounds...I had no shape…All you saw was bone. I was like, This looks gross.”
Hugh Jackman Stopped Eating for 'Les Miserables'
In Tom Hooper's 2012 film adaption of the epic story 'Les Miserables,' an unrecognizable Hugh Jackman plays Jean Valjean. Jackman claims to have gone to extremes to look as authentic as possible for the role, confessing that he stopped eating and, on some days, even drinking water! All for the sake of a scene in which Valjean, still in prison, performs manual labor in water looking almost emaciated.
But the actor also had to work out for 3 hours every day, so he could still have some muscle. "You lose up to 10 pounds of water weight, mainly from the exterior of the body. But it was really brutal. About 20 hours in, a headache came. Then I wanted to drink water out of the ocean! I see the scene now, and I look really thin, really sunken.” People, do not try this at home.