Certain roles require actors to undergo physical transformations to truly resemble the character or real-life person they are trying to portray. Here are five actors who have undergone the most gruelling and extreme physical changes for a movie role.
Jake Gyllenhaal – Southpaw (2015)
“I went into full training-camp mode and I got myself – what I consider in my mind as an actor – in shape to fight.”
Jake Gyllenhaal undertook an intense regime twice a day to prepare for his role as Billy Hope in Southpaw. Before bulking up for Antoine Fuqua’s boxing film, he’d lost loads of weight to star in Nightcrawler (2014), so it’s clear how committed of an actor Gyllenhaal is, and he has yielded some dramatic results.
Chris Pratt – Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
“I did training for a triathlon in terms of swimming, biking, running.”
In just six months, Chris Pratt lost a whopping 65 pounds to play galactic hero, Peter Quill in the action-packed Marvel film. Quite an inspirational transformation to say the least.
Jared Leto – Dallas Buyers Club (2013)
“It changes the way you walk, the way you sit, the way you think.”
Jared Leto is no stranger to body transformations, having already dramatically altered his weight in the past for roles in Requiem for a Dream (2000) and Chapter 27 (2007). In Dallas Buyers Club, Leto lost around 40 pounds to a play HIV-positive transgender woman. Although his weight loss is shocking, his hard work clearly paid off because he won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor
Tom Hardy – Warrior (2011)
“Don’t get me wrong, I winged and moaned and bitched and cried and slept and howled my way through it.”
For his role as an MMA fighter in Warrior, Tom Hardy went from looking very average to having the ultimate fighter’s physique. He then packed on even more muscle mass to play Bane in The Dark Knight Rises (2012).
Christian Bale – The Machinist (2004)
“I didn’t take this job because I went, ‘Oh, there’s a physical transformation needed.’ I always go, ‘Damn! There’s a physical transformation needed!'”
Christian Bale losing 60 pounds for his role in The Machinist, is just as equally impressive as when he bulked back up after to play Batman in Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins. During his weight loss, he was getting by on a diet of coffee and apples. Just ridiculous, right?!
Motion Picture Blog 
Christian Bale is always the best…
LikeLiked by 1 person
Good list. I was hoping that Chris Pratt and Tom Hardy were on this list!
LikeLiked by 1 person
No way I could not include them !
LikeLiked by 1 person
I think the only other one I would add into this list is Mickey Rouke. It was a while ago but if you see the difference from his first movies compared to The Wrestler and Iron Man 2, the transformation is scary. The thing about Rouke is he didn’t do it for a specific film either. He actually went into boxing and then ‘real’ wrestling in the 1990’s, leaving acting for almost a decade.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s really interesting actually, I didn’t know he became an actual wrestler. ‘The Wrestler’ is a great film as well.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ah such transformations…did anyone really see Southpaw though? hah..
LikeLiked by 1 person
I did, saw it at the cinema, thought it was pretty good lol.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Christian Bale really goes for it on the transformation front. Big dedication. Wow, Chris Pratt really got into shape didn’t he?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yeah he really doesn’t hold back. And Chris Pratts transformation is very impressive
LikeLiked by 1 person
I never knew Pratt looked like that before now.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh really? Well I guess you learn something new every day
LikeLiked by 2 people
So very true Liam.
LikeLike
Love the Tom Hardy quote that goes with this post. You wonder what kind of damage this does to the body though.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Amazing list , some would have never knew lol
LikeLike
I wanted to see Christian Bale for The Machinist on this list, and I did! Great list. Some also say he did a lot for The Fighter.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yep he lost a lot weight for The Fighter. I still need to see The Machinist.
LikeLiked by 1 person