The Transformation Oscars

Many actors take their craft very seriously, often undergoing some big-time changes in physical appearance for a role – whether it’s shedding weight, fattening up or muscling up.

These celebrities often inspire others to achieve the bodies seen on the silver screen. Sometimes this can be good motivation as long as realistic expectations are maintained.

After all, we don’t all have 200k to spend on personal trainers and nutritionists.

The following are some of the more incredible physical transformations for a film role.

1. Christian Bale

(The Machinest, Batman Begins, The Fighter)
Bale probably takes the ultimate prize as he’s both lost scads of weight and packed on a ton of muscle.

For The Machinist – likely one of the most astonishing loses for a roll ever seen – the 6′ Bale whittled himself down to 121 pounds (63 pounds loss) to play an insomniac, only to pack on 100 pounds worth of muscle in 5 months for his role as the camped crusader. More recently Bale dropped a third of his body weight to portray Dicky Eklund in The Fighter. No wonder the guy is grumpy.

2. Robert De Niro:

(Raging Bull)
Put on an incredible 60 pounds for his role as Jake La Motta in Scorsese’s classic.

3. Renee Zelwegger

(Bridget Jones’ Diary)
Going from a size 6 to a size 14 to play the endearing and delightful Bridget Jones. She then did it all over again to reprise her role as a deeply irritating and unfunny Bridget Jones.

4. Jared Leto

(Chapter 27)
Leto packed on 67 pounds to play John Lennon’s assassin Mark David Chapman. Afar cry from playing a thin drug-addict in Requiem For a Dream, and one of the greatest athletes of all time in Prefontaine – a biopic about middle distance legend Steve Prefontaine.

5. Vincent D’Onofrio

(Full Metal Jacket)
D’Onofrio gained 70 pounds during a seven month period for his role as Pvt. Leonard Lawrence in the Kubrick war film.

6. Matt Damon

(Courage Under Fire)
Before his breakout role in Good Will Hunting, Damon dropped almost 50 pounds for his role as a heroin addict opposite Denzel Washington. Not a wise choice concedes Damon, “I went too far. I got sick and I wouldn’t do that again because it was just too much.

At the same time it helped the performance. I didn’t have to act at all – I was a wreck. I was getting dizzy spells and hot flashes. Damon has also undergone fluctuations – from looking skinny and pale in 1999′s The Talented Mr. Ripley to bulking up the Bourne movies then gaining 35 pounds of fat for The Informant, followed by muscling up for Invictus.

7. Linda Hamilton

(Terminator 2)
Not quite sure how much muscle she put on for this role but she looked shredded – a far cry from her “softer” look in the series Beauty and the Beast. 3 hours of daily work including; cardio, free weights, ab work and a “no fat” diet. Very early 90′s!

8. Charlize Theron

(Monster)
Only in Hollywood does a woman put on 20 pounds to become a normal sized woman.

9. Tom Hanks

(Philadelphia, Castaway)

Hanks has achieved both the Oscar and weight loss double, dropping 26 pounds for his Oscar-winning role as an AIDS victim in Philadelphia. Years later Hanks would “double” that feat, shedding 55 pounds for Castaway whilst simultaneously growing a gnarly beard and long locks.

10. 50 Cent

(Things Fall Apart)
The hip hop star/actor made headlines last year when he went from 214 to 160 to play a football player diagnosed with cancer. He did so with a liquid diet and copious amounts of walking on the treadmill.

For many Hollywood stars, their borderline-obsessive dedication to their profession often pays dividends in terms of cashing in on awards night.

It does beg the question though; when is it “too much”. Undergoing these kinds of metamorphoses’ can have both short-term and long-term health consequences.