Cillian Murphy’s body transformation in the upcoming summer epic Oppenheimer is making headlines — but by Hollywood standards, her weight loss plan has been pretty quiet.
Murphy, 47, was eating just one nut a day to shed pounds, much like 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 — living on a diet of an apple and black coffee a day and smoking.
Charlize Theron went to the opposite extreme, however, after gaining 30lbs for her Oscar-winning role in Monsters where she played a serial killer. He went even more extreme for a 2018 drama that gained 50lbs by eating burgers, milkshakes and potato chips.
Below, Newstimesuk.com highlights five dramatic transformations celebrities have made for the film:
Christian Bale (pictured left in a 2002 photo) is famous for his body transformation. Insomniac Trevor Reznik was at his worst when he lost 62 pounds to play (pictured right).
How Christian Bale Lost 62 Pounds in Four Months to Play the Emaciated Insomniac in The Machinist: An Apple, a Tin of Tuna and a Cup of Black Coffee a Day
The most dramatic body transformation in Hollywood history is that of Christian Bale. The actor shed 62 pounds, or a third of his weight, for the psychological thriller.
When he was cast as machinist Trevor Reznick, weakened by his insomnia, for the 2004 movie ‘The Machinist’, the star set himself the goal of losing weight from 182lbs to just 120lbs.
The move worked, with reviewers commenting on the dramatic transformation at the time — and the performance earned him a Best Actor nomination.
Mr Bell revealed he lost weight in just four months after changing his usual diet to an apple, a tin of tuna and a black coffee a day. He also smoked cigarettes to help curb his appetite.
This was a diet of less than 200 calories per day, less than the 2,500-calorie average recommended for men.
To help keep him on track, Bell said he regularly sits around wearing headphones but not actually listening to anything so he can hear what’s going on around him without being distracted.
He added to GQ: ‘Also, at the time I was involved in a very dirty habit of smoking. So, I was lighting my own cigarette and sitting there puffing.’
Mr Bell has swung the other way before, bulking up to 220lbs for his role as Batman in The Dark Knight.
Years later, she gained weight again for her role in the 2018 film Vice. Mr. Bell gained 40lbs to play Dick Cheney, the 46th Vice President of the United States.
But speaking about her dramatic weight fluctuations in 2019, at the age of 45, she said she couldn’t change her body the way it used to.
‘I can’t go on with this. I really can’t,’ he told GQ. ‘My mortality is staring me in the face.
‘I’m a bit more annoying now, because I’m older and I think if I keep doing what I’ve done in the past, I’ll die. So, I don’t want to die.’
Curtis Jackson III, also known as 50 Cent, shaved off 54 pounds for the 2011 movie All Things Fall Apart in which he played a football player with cancer (pictured right).
Curtis Jackson III (50 Cent): Run on treadmill three hours a day to lose 54lbs for role as cancer patient
The movie star and rapper lost a dramatic 54lbs — or a quarter of his weight — in an incredible transformation in 2011.
Curtis Jackson III, also known as 50 Cent, initially tipped the scales at 214lbs.
But in just nine weeks he dropped to 160lbs for his role as a cancer-stricken football player in the 2012 film All Things Fall Apart.
The star achieved the transformation by consuming only liquids and running on a treadmill for three hours a day.
Talking about his motivation for such a dramatic drop in pounds, Jackson said in an interview with Parade magazine that it best reflects the reality of cancer.
He revealed his best friend Charles Pringle, who lived across the street from him, was suffering from cancer and looked depressed shortly before his death.
Describing her transformation, Jackson added: ‘The weight started coming off and my manager said to me: “You get yourself to a doctor!
‘I didn’t want to go because I had to match the look in my mind.
‘I wasn’t really into what I was doing. I just kept looking at myself in the mirror feeling like I had to be smaller. I had to match.’
She added: ‘I had so much muscle on me that it was hard for me to lose definition even as I got lighter and thinner.
‘I started running to stave off hunger. Towards the end, it was really hard. It was like if I didn’t get close enough to what my best friend looked like to me before she passed, I wasn’t doing the story justice.’
Matthew McConaughey (pictured left in Texas this year) gained 47 pounds in six months to play Kenny Wells (pictured right), a businessman who strikes gold in Indonesia in the 2017 film Gold
Matthew McConaughey: Gained 47lb in six months eating pizza and cheeseburgers every night
One of Hollywood’s most outrageous yo-yo body transformers is American actor Matthew McConaughey.
In 2013, after finishing filming for Magic Mike, where he needed a muscular frame, the actor shed all his added muscles and lost weight for ‘Dallas Buyers Club’.
In this 2013 drama, he played Ron Woodruff — a Texas cowboy who was diagnosed with AIDS.
To best reflect the character’s physique and portray the reality of the disease, Mr. McConaughey lost 40 pounds in five months — moving from 188lbs to 135lbs.
This was achieved by consuming less than 500 calories per day. He would eat an egg white for breakfast, while lunch and dinner would have just five ounces of fish and a small side of vegetables.
The only snack he was allowed was tapioca pudding, which McConaughey admitted to eating with the smallest spoon to make it last longer.
Then in 2017, the actor – then 48 – went the other way and began gaining weight to play Kenny Wells, a gold prospecting businessman in Indonesia.
He gained over 47 pounds in total for the role over six months.
‘I was getting pretty fat as Kenny Wells,’ McConaughey told CNN at the time.
‘I was an all-star in my family, nicknamed “Captain Fun” at the time because I was yes to pizza night every night, and it was cheeseburgers and beer.’
On this diet, the star enjoys eating whatever she wants – including lots of pizza and cheeseburgers. He also gave up exercise, deciding that even walking up a flight of stairs was too difficult when an elevator was available.
Speaking to Page Six, she said: ‘My favorite food is cheeseburgers, so I eat cheeseburgers all the time.
‘I was trying all these fast food restaurants that I’d never been to, or had only been to once. Not so sweet. A cheeseburger and beer will do the trick.’
The father of three said the biggest challenge was losing weight.
‘The hard part was going down…I’d go from 217 to 211, easy. Then 211 to 209. Crossing that 210 mark was really tough. then [going from] 209 to 201: Easy,’ he said.
Charlize Theron (pictured left before her weight transformation) gained 50lbs in three months to play a pregnant mother of three with postpartum depression in the 2017 movie Tully (right).
Charlize Theron after gaining 50lbs to play pregnant mum-of-three: ‘My soul felt really heavy’:
For the 2018 drama, Tully, Charlize Theron had to gain 50 pounds in three months to play a pregnant mother of three suffering from postpartum depression.
Ms Theron said the first three weeks of her weight gain program were ‘easy’ but then it became a ‘job’ to eat all the food needed to gain weight.
‘The first three weeks are always fun because you’re like a kid in a candy store,’ he told The Associated Press.
‘So it was fun to go to In-N-Out and have breakfast and two milkshakes.
‘And then, three weeks later, it’s not fun anymore. Like, all of a sudden, you end up eating that amount and then it becomes a job.’
Describing the effects of gaining so much weight, she told PEOPLE: ‘I was very heavy, literally and figuratively.
‘My spirit felt really heavy watching this film and I was really unhealthy and I threw up my back and couldn’t sleep and was lazy.’
She finished filming just before Thanksgiving, saying the holiday delayed her diet to lose weight.
‘Then, when January comes around, it’s like I can barely walk on a treadmill,’ she said.
‘My body just didn’t respond the way it did the last time I did it. It took a year and a half to lose weight.’
Chris Pratt (pictured left from the Parks and Recreation series) traded in his dad’s more chiseled physique (pictured right) for his role in 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 rose to fame in 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 for a more sleek and chiseled look in 2014’s Guardians of the Galaxy.
To prepare for the role, Mr. Pratt lost 60 pounds by following a strict diet and exercise plan that included lifting weights, running and swimming four hours a day.
She was consuming more than 4,000 calories a day, but said she was still losing weight because she was now eating the right kind of food.
‘I actually lost weight by eating more, but eating the right foods,’ she explained to People magazine.
‘When I finished the film, my body was not in a state of starvation. It wasn’t like I triggered myself to lose weight and get really fat again.’
Mr Pratt kept the body, and landed the role of park ranger Wayne in 2015’s Jurassic World – a silly dream for the actor.
Cillian Murphy won’t reveal how much weight he lost to portray atomic bomb scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer
Cillian Murphy for playing the scientist who invented the atomic bomb: I lived on a nut for a day
The most recent transformation demonstrated by a celebrity is Cillian Murphy for her role in the film Oppenheimer.
In the thriller, the 47-year-old actor plays scientist J. Robert plays Oppenheimer as he works to develop the atomic bomb during World War II.
The scientist famously lived on a diet of martinis and cigarettes – rarely making time to eat.
And Mr. Murphy went to extreme lengths to achieve the same look — eating just one almond a day.
‘I was running with mad energy; I went to a point where I wasn’t thinking about food or anything else,’ he told The Guardian.
‘I was into it, hyper… something hyper, but it was good because the character was like that. He never ate.’
The weight loss took place six months before the film was shot and Mr Murphy would not reveal how much weight he had lost or his final weight.
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