How These Actors Lost A Lot Of Weight For Their Movie Roles

Actors have a proud tradition of suffering nobly for their art. For the finest purveyors of the craft, there's no cross they won't bear, no darkness into which they will not descend, and no task too arduous if it means creating a role that will live long on after they have shuffled off this mortal coil. For example, Daniel Day-Lewis's fierce insistence on wearing clothes that only existed in the 1860s when starring as Bill The Butcher in "Gangs of New York" saw him fall ill with a bad bout of pneumonia. His devotion and commitment almost cost him his life, especially since it was rumored that he initially turned down all modern medicine to treat his condition.

However, it's not just the mental and emotional makeover that actors have to endure to create a compelling picture of a character who can walk off the screens and into our imaginations. Sometimes the wizardry and wonder of a good make-up team or CGI department aren't enough and the tired and tormented thespian is called upon to go through an equally arduous physical transformation.

Losing pounds to gain credibility is a strange equation but when actors drop the weight for a role, it commands a strange sort of respect. Losing weight is never easy, even with a personal trainer and chef at your command. It personifies discipline, devotion, and respect for their craft and the audience. So why not grab yourself a bag of popcorn and a supersize soda or two, and marvel at how these actors lost weight for their movie roles.

As a press photographer who specializes in snapping shots of the carnage at traffic accidents, home invasions, murder scenes, and house fires, Louis "Lou" Bloom in "Nightcrawler" has a big appetite — it's just not for savory snacks or sugary treats. Jake Gyllenhaal plays the unethical snapper who is consumed by the public's demand for unethical journalism. Bloom has an insatiable appetite to be the first at the scene for the big scoop — even if it means he has to manipulate events to get what he craves. "Nightcrawler" is a classic study on how insidious corruption is: all of Bloom's nervous energy appears to eat away at him in his frantic bid to stay ahead of the curve.

Gyllenhaal explained to Us Weekly, "I knew that Lou was literally and figuratively hungry," so the actor lost 30 pounds off his usually buff appearance to give his character the gaunt, haggard, and haunted look of a coyote. All cheekbones and sunken eyes, Gyllenhaal's transformation helped give Bloom a tangible air of gnawing regret and wasted decadence. Yet despite undergoing a special diet of protein, carbs, and fats to fill out for his role in Disney's "Prince of Persia," Gyllenhaal revealed that he adopted no special dietary regime for "Nightcrawler," except one of enforced hunger. He explained to Variety, "I would try to eat as few calories as possible. I knew if I was hungry that I was in the right spot. Physically, it showed itself, but chemically and mentally, I think it was even a more fascinating journey. It became a struggle for me."

Dropping 55 pounds for "Cast Away" wasn't Tom Hanks's first weight-loss rodeo. Way back in 1993 the actor lost 26 pounds and won an Oscar for his compelling performance as AIDS patient Andrew Beckett in director Jonathan Demme's "Philadelphia." With this being one of the first films in Hollywood to tackle the HIV/AIDS crisis and homophobia, Hanks's role was always going to come under scrutiny. The ravages of the disease needed to be visible and not underplayed in any form, so Hanks adopted a strict weight loss program to do the role justice. According to Showbiz CheatSheet, Hanks went into detail about shedding the pounds at a "Sleepless in Seattle" press junket. He explained, "The physical regimen was very much dictated by the reality of the science. So I was on a diet and exercise program and took a lot of stuff."

Hanks revealed that he had a pair of sports doctors who would provide him with prescribed meals and ensure he worked out, "every day no matter what had happened." Hanks found the going tough and felt woozy on more than one occasion. Combined with the make-up, hair loss, and acting chops, Hanks's weight loss helped to create a convincing air of someone at death's door. Two decades later, in 2013, Hanks confessed at a press conference that his long-term habit of gaining and losing weight for his film roles might have contributed to his diagnosis of Type 2 diabetes. He added his days of fiddling with his weight were over, explaining, "I think that's more or less a young man's game."

When a filmmaker like Martin Scorsese asks you to lose weight for a film he's dreamed about making for years, only a foolhardy thespian would refuse. Thankfully, Adam Driver was not that actor and obligingly lost 50 pounds for his role as Francisco Garupe in Scorsese's long-awaited movie "Silence." Playing one of two 17th century Portuguese Jesuit priests, Driver journeys to Japan in search of his missing mentor. Driver's character is far from properly nourished at the start of the film, but as the plot progresses, he and his fellow priest lose even more weight. Driver told Interview, "When the movie begins, the characters have been traveling for two years. There's disease and a shortage of food. They're already kind of depleted ... and then we continue to lose weight."

Driver revealed that Scorsese wanted the actors to help the story physically by losing a lot of weight and looking emaciated. To play the part of a persecuted priest with conviction, Driver lost 30 pounds before the first shot was filmed and a further 20 pounds whilst filming. In an interview with Esquire, he elaborated that apart from unlimited coffee he was given "a shake in the morning, then a protein and vegetable at night. If you need energy, you chew these Fiber Gummies." Driver also recalled that one time he had to endure everyone on set eating dumplings whilst Scorsese simply laughed and said, "Sucks to be you!"

When playing a professional ballerina who's a perfect fit for an upcoming production of Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake," there are certain standards one must adhere to, including having almost zero body fat. For Darren Aronofsky's "Black Swan," Natalie Portman dropped 20 pounds to play the part of a skeletal ballet dancer who would be a graceful swan. Yet it was far from easy, and as Portman revealed to Entertainment Weekly, "There were some nights that I thought I literally was going to die. It was the first time I understood how you could get so wrapped up in a role that it could sort of take you down."

The Independent reported that Portman's punishing diet consisted of little more than carrots and almonds as she spent a grueling eight hours a day rehearsing. Not everyone was happy with Portman's portrayal of a slightly neurotic ballerina. Racheal Prince, of Ballet British Columbia, said, "She's anorexic, bulimic, crazy. I'm sure every dancer struggles with little things here and there, but for one girl to struggle with every single problem out there, it just makes us look crazy." The Daily Mail reported that Mila Kunis, who plays Lily, the black swan to Portman's white, also lost 20 pounds for her role and went on a binge eating spree post-filming. Kunis explained, "It took me five months to lose 20 pounds, and it took me hours to gain it back."

When Lily Collins lost weight to play an anorexic in the Netflix movie "To The Bone," it was a harrowing experience. The actress had suffered from eating disorders in the past and although she had a doctor on board to ensure she lost weight safely, it was still a difficult process fraught with anxiety. When you lose weight to play an anorexic, you're heading into dangerous territory, particularly when, as was the case with Collins, it's something you have personal experience of.

The actress explained to Elle how apprehensive she was about stepping back into shoes that contained nothing but negative experiences for her. Collins said, "You're doing it for a part, but it's something so close to you. There's a fine line between, are you going to fall back into it, are you not." Colins insisted that playing the role for the greater purpose of highlighting the condition gave her strength and inner resolve. Collins explained to Glamour that she lost 20 pounds under the watchful eye of a nutritionist who gave her lots of supplements, adding, "We really made sure to maintain a semblance of control over the situation and also just to make sure my body was functioning the way that it should. I was reminding myself daily that I was hired as an actor, not because of the body I would have attained by suffering."

If you are struggling with an eating disorder, or know someone who is, help is available. Visit the National Eating Disorders Association website or contact NEDA's Live Helpline at 1-800-931-2237. You can also receive 24/7 Crisis Support via text (send NEDA to 741-741).

Traditionally, the Joker has never been a portly villain. His quicksilver mind and psychotic personality move fast and without any excess baggage. The Caped Crusader's nemesis burns internally with a fierce fire that appears to shed the very meat from his bones. Yet the painted-faced killing machine has never been meaner or leaner than in 2019's "Joker," and it's all credit to Joaquin Phoenix's mental and physical transformation into one of DC Comics' greatest characters. Director Todd Phillips and Phoenix's unique take on the tragic clown is more nihilistic, more insane, more sinister, and more human than any other version.

The Joker's wired and angular personality, his uncontrollable tics, and his nervous energy are all captured in Phoenix's powerhouse performance, and the actor uses his body to maximum effect. Yet first, he had to shed 52 pounds for the role. Phoenix believes the weight loss enhanced his performance, but admitted to the New York Times, "It's a horrible way to live." Warner Bros. production notes state that Phoenix achieved that starved and unhealthy look by eating little more than an apple a day. Reflecting on the experience of losing a lot of weight in a brief period, Phoenix revealed on Jimmy Kimmel Live, "In the beginning, you feel exhausted. You look at a flight of stairs and it takes like 30 seconds." Yet he added that by the end of the extreme diet he felt "energized and excited" — although he also explained at the Venice Film Festival (via The Hollywood Reporter), "It turns out that affects your psychology. You start to go mad."

As a despairing cocaine addict and partner of an unpredictable and hot-headed gangster, Michelle Pfeiffer's character, Elvira Hancock, in Brian De Palma's "Scarface" has the sort of energy that is eating her alive from the inside out. Naturally, the actress wanted to embody the tragic heroine in all her raging authenticity, and that involved weight loss and plenty of it. People reports that Pfeiffer lived on a diet of Marlboros and tomato soup to play the love interest for the larger-than-life Tony Montana (Al Pacino). Pfeiffer said, "I was playing a cocaine addict so that was part of the physicality of the part." As the movie rolled on, Pfeiffer revealed she became thinner and more emaciated.

The actress recalled that what was originally planned as a three-month movie shoot ended up dragging along for twice that time. She said, "I was starving by the end of it because the one scene that was the end of the film where I needed to be my thinnest, it was pushed to the next week, and then it was the next week and then it was the next week. I literally had members of the crew bringing me bagels because they were all worried about me and how thin I was getting."

If you or anyone you know is struggling with addiction issues, help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).