4 Actors That Transformed Their Bodies For A Role

If you’ve ever wondered how actors like Charlize Theron in Monster and Christian Bale in American Psycho get into such incredible shape, the answer is determination. They don’t stop at diet and exercise to get the body they want for their role. Look at how these stars’ bodies have changed in the name of art.

Christian Bale — The Machinist

Bale’s transformation for The Machinist took him from a fit and handsome young man to a frail and pale shell of his former self. The change not only required him to shed 25 pounds of muscle, but also to completely stop eating solid food. Bale said that he survived on a can of tuna and an apple every single day.

Tom Hardy — Bronson

Can you bulk up on command? Hardy’s role in 2012’s Bronson required him to get into fighting shape and gain a large amount of weight. The actor told AskMen that he gained almost 8 pounds every week to play the role of a hardened criminal.

Charlize Theron — Monster

Theron is one of the biggest stars in Hollywood. She has won an Oscar, a Golden Globe and several other awards for her roles in films like Monster. And her body transformation for the project was so impressive that she earned a lot of press for it. She gained weight, wore a prosthetic belly, and even walked around with that belly taped to her body so that she could get used to the motion.

Jonah Hill — Maniac

It’s never been easy to look at a Jonah Hill movie and think that the man onscreen might actually be overweight. But in 2013’s Maniac, Hill starred as a character who gained and lost weight on command. The transformation was even more extreme than Christian Bale and Charlize Theron’s body changes for their roles, with his weight going from 190 pounds to 155 pounds.