OnHot Ones , Zac Efron said that after filmingBaywatch(2017 ) , he never need to be in that form of shape again .
With a rise in the body positivity movement over the last few years, it’s become more common for people to point out ways the film and television industries contribute to promoting disordered eating. Many actors have spoken up about it, and others have evenrefusedto change their weight for a role. However, since the conversations surrounding eating disorders usually focus solely on women, that means eating disorders for male actors in Hollywood are often ignored or normalized. Male actors regularly follow drastic, unhealthy diets and excessive workout routines just for a role, and this rarely raises any red flags. So, to shine a light on how dangerous and unhealthy Hollywood can be, here are some examples of male actors who opened up about the pressure to go through extreme and harmful lengths to change their bodies for movies:
monition : This postal service cite disordered eat on use .
1.This year, during a panel at Epic Cons Chicago,Jesse Metcalferevealedthat he adopted unhealthy eating habits while filmingJohn Tucker Must Die(2006).
Hereportedlytold the crowd: “You guys have no idea; I was not eating, and I was working out three times a day.” He explained that he was in the gym anytime that he wasn’t on set and that preparing for the role required “working out and eating salmon every night.”
2.Jacob Elordiatea pound of bacon every day to playElvis PresleyinPriscilla(2023).
Sofia Coppola, the director,explainedthat Priscilla Presley told them that Elvis liked really burnt bacon. “I averaged, like, a pound of bacon a day,” Elordi said. “It’s not that noticeable because I’m quite long, but I was the biggest I’ve ever been.”
3.Matthew McConaugheylost47lbs for his role as an emaciated AIDS patient inDallas Buyers Club(2013). He did this by eating extremely small portions of food each day.
“I found tapioca pudding and I found the tiniest little antique spoon in New Orleans, a little bitty sugar spoon, and I would eat it with that so it would last longer,” McConaugheyrevealedto reporters at the Screen Actors Guild Awards.
“It was tough going, I’m not going to lie. The dieting was pretty hardcore. I was losing 7lbs every week. I’d have a Diet Coke, two egg whites in the morning, a piece of chicken, then another Diet Coke,” he said.
Heshared, “I got down to 143lbs, and I was always hungry and irritable. My body resembled a baby bird with its mouth open, crying, ‘Feed me, feed me,’ and you realize momma bird ain’t going to feed you. It’s hard.”
4.Jared Leto alsolost 40 poundsfor the filmDallas Buyers Club(2013) by not eating, and he’s said the weight loss affected him. “It changes the way you walk, the way you sit, the way you think.”
5.Jared Letolost 28 poundsto play a heroin addict inRequiem for a Dream(2000). He lost the weight by nibbling on small bites of raw vegetables. He revealed, “I was in a constant state of hunger. I started fainting when I was on the set.”
6.Jared Leto alsogained60 pounds to play Mark David Chapman, John Lennon’s murderer, inChapter 27(2007).The diet caused him to get gout. “I couldn’t walk long distances; I had a wheelchair because it was so painful. My body was in shock from the amount of weight I gained.”
7.Christian Balelost 63 poundsin the four months of pre-production forThe Machinist(2004).His daily diet was an apple, a can of tuna, and coffee.
In 2019, hestatedhe was no longer interested in undergoing any more drastic physical transformations for films because “I’m older and I feel like if I keep doing what I’ve done in the past, I’m going to die.”
8.Christian Bale alsoput on40lbs in a short amount of time to play former Vice President Dick Cheney inVice(2018).
To gain the weight, he shared the one specific food that he ate often. “I’ve just eaten a lot of pies, so far,” hetoldVariety. He also went to a professional to help him gain the weight. “It’s never healthy to put on that amount of weight in a short amount of time, but I did it in the healthiest manner,” hesaid.
“For me to gain weight, that was the toughest part, man,” Milessaid. “For breakfast, it was like six eggs, and then, you know, you work out, and then you have a shake and then it was two lunches. Each lunch would be like a chicken breast, a full potato, and some broccoli, and I would have two of those and then I remember there would be another snack after that. And I remember for dinner specifically, it was 20 ounces of certain fish or steak. And so you’re just eating so much. That’s really what I didn’t enjoy.”
“Everyone ate water. It was a lot of air being eaten,” Jaysaid. “Every single person on this cast was in the gym every single day.”
Danny alsoadded, “Whenever we hear ‘cut,’ you then see everyone drop down to the floor, start doing pushups, start doing squats, there was arm bands and bicep curls were happening.”
10.OnThe Kelly Clarkson Show,Channing Tatumsaidone of the reasons he didn’t want to do a thirdMagic Mikefilm was because of how he has to look for those movies.
When Kelly asked him if he works out regularly outside of his films, Channing answered, “Even if you do work out, to be that kind of in shape is not natural.”
When she asked, “Do you have to eat so well?” He said, “That’s not even healthy. You have to starve yourself. I don’t think when you’re that lean, it’s actually healthy.”
11.Bradley Cooperhad togain weight for his role inAmerican Sniper(2014). Bradley’s personal trainer said that to do this, “We had to force-feed him. That was the hardest part.”
Bradleysaid, “It was a real shock to my body. If it’s pizza and cake, that’s one thing. Putting 6,000 calories a day in your body gets old quick.” During this time, Bradley’s daily diet included five meals, a pre- and post-workout drink, and energy bars.
12.OnHot Ones, Zac Efronsaidthat after filmingBaywatch(2017), he never wanted to be in that kind of shape again. “Really, it was so hard. You’re working with almost no wiggle room. You’ve got things like water under your skin you’re worrying about. Making your six-pack into a four-pack. Shit like that. That’s just not… it’s just stupid. It’s just not real.”
In his docuseries,Down to Earth with Zac Efron,Zacsaid, while eating pasta in Italy, “I went, like, years without eating carbs. When I shotBaywatch, I didn’t have a carb for like six months. I almost lost my mind. You need this. Like, it’s so good.”
13.Alexander Skarsgård said he did nothing buteating and trainingfor eight months to prepare forThe Legend of Tarzan(2016). For the first three months, he focused on bulking, and his daily diet consisted of 7,000 calories of mostly meat and potatoes.
Alexandershared, “I was still shootingTrue Bloodat the time and they gave me a Tupperware box with cold steak and potatoes and salad. I would walk around on set constantly eating.” Then for the next phase of his diet, he ate six small meals a day that he claimed drove him “crazy” with hunger.
During that time, he didn’t consume any sugar, dairy, or fast carbs. He mostly ate steak, chicken, and smoked fish.
14.ForTerminator Genisys(2015), Jai Courtneyfocusedon getting lean. His trainer, Aaron Williamson said, “Terminatorhad a grueling film schedule, so we’d train at all hours of the day and night. We’d crank the music way up and set the time for the big circuits we’d do.”
ForSuicide Squad(2016),Jaiconstantly atea lot of protein to bulk up. He said, “It was one of those things that was exhausting at first. For example, getting up and eating oatmeal, chicken breasts, and six eggs the very first thing in the morning.”
15.50 Cent lost over 50 pounds in 10 weeks to play a cancer patient inAllThings Fall Apart(2011).He did this by having a liquid diet andrunning on the treadmillfor three hours a day.
His managertold himto see a doctor when a lot of the weight came off, but 50 Cent said, “I just didn’t want to go because I had to match the look in my mind. I was so into what I was doing that I wasn’t really concerned with that. I just kept looking at myself in the mirror feeling like I have to be smaller. I had to match.”
16.Chris Hemsworthlost 33 poundsin four weeks forIn the Heart of the Sea(2015), where he played a starving whaler. To lose weight, he ate only 500 calories a day.
Just tried a newfangled dieting / training program called " Lost At Sea " . Would n’t advocate it .. # IntheHeartoftheSea
“At one point, a day’s rations were a boiled egg, a couple of crackers, and a celery stick,” hesaid.
17.Matt Damonlost 50 poundsfor a role as a heroin addict that required only two days of filming inCourage Under Fire(1996).His diet consisted of mostly chicken breast.
His daily intake was around 100 calories and he ran 13 miles a day which caused him to experience hot flashes and dizzy spells. The dietdamagedhis adrenal gland and he spent a year and a half on medication to try and fix it.
18.Tom Hardy revealed that training and bulking forThe Dark Knight Rises(2012) has stuck with his body. Hesaid, “I think you pay the price with any drastic physical changes. It was alright when I was younger…but I think as you get into your 40s, you have to be more mindful of the rapid training, packing on a lot of weight and getting physical, and then not having enough time to keep training because you’re busy filming, so your body is swimming in two different directions at the same time.”
Headded, “I haven’t damaged my body, but I’m certainly a bit achier than I used to be! I certainly have joints that click that probably shouldn’t click, you know what I mean? And carrying my children is a little bit harder than it used to be.”
19.George Clooneygained30 pounds in a month forSyriana(2005) and said, “People always think, ‘Oh, that’ll be fun,’ but it’s like going to a pie-eating contest every day.” He added, “I was miserable, because there I was in Italy, and I wasn’t looking forward to eating. Who doesn’t look forward to eating in Italy?”
20.And lastly, forThe Midnight Sky(2020), Georgle Clooneylost 30 poundsto play an astronomer with cancer, and George ended up hospitalized with pancreatitis four days before filming began. “I think I was trying too hard to lose the weight quickly and probably wasn’t taking care of myself,” he said.
If you ’re dealing with an eat disorder and postulate someone to talk to , theNational Eating Disorders Associationhelpline is 1 - 800 - 931 - 2237 . For 24/7 crisis support , text “ NEDA ” to 741741 .
Twitter: @chrishemsworth
