10 Movie Stars Who Buffed Up For Their Roles

When most actors take on a big blockbuster type film they usually have to change their appearance because they are either too skinny or too big, Total Film have come up with a list of stars who have buffed up for their roles in these movies.

Chris Evans

The Role: Steve Rogers/Captain America in Captain America

The Technique: Chris Evans did gym sessions a-plenty and ate lots of protein-rich foods. He said to MTV, “It’s the workouts that, you know, make you want to vomit. It’s horrible.”

Did They Keep It Up?:: In a word, no, again, to MTV, he said, “Oh my god, when shooting was done I just stopped going to the gym completely for about three months.”

Christian Bale

The Role: Bruce Wayne/Batman in Batman Begins

The Technique: Bale went straight from The Machinist where he was 130 pounds, and got to 230 pounds, 40 pounds more than what Christopher Nolan wanted. He said to IGN, “I couldn’t do one push up the first day. All of the muscles were gone, so that was a real tough time of rebuilding all of that.”

Did They Keep It Up?:: None of his weight-changes have been as drastic as this. However, he has since slimmed down for The Fighter, in the role of heroin addict Dickie Ecklund.

Hugh Jackman

The Role: Logan/Wolverine in X-Men Origins: Wolverine

The Technique: According to Mike Ryan, Jackman’s personal trainer, they would train in the morning, so for a 6am filming start, they would be in the gym at 4am, to do an hour and a half of training.

Did They Keep It Up?:: Jackman has to get even bigger for The Wolverine, he told the LA Times: “[Darren Aronofsky] said that Wolverine, in the comics, is powerful, stocky – you know, he’s short and thick. So he said, ‘I want you to go there, get bigger’.”

Sylvester Stallone

The Role: Rocky in Rocky

The Technique: For Rocky III, Stallone would do a two mile jog, 18 rounds of sparring, two hours of weightlifting and skipping. Then he would take a nap, go for a run and go for a swim.

Did They Keep It Up?:: After Rocky, Stallone’s body became instantly recognisable and he’s done another five Rocky films and four Rambo films since then. Plus a whole host of other action films.

Demi Moore

The Role: Jordan O’Neill in G.I. Jane

The Technique: Moore told Harper’s Bazaar, “I just wanted to be believable.” And believable she was, after her two hours a day pumping iron and breaking it up with a six-mile run.

Did They Keep It Up?:: Well, after 1997, Demi Moore took a break for three years. She said that preparing for the role nearly killed her, but her body isn’t looking too bad at all these days.

Christopher Reeve

The Role: Clark Kent/Superman in Superman: The Movie

The Technique: High-protein, weights and 90 minutes on a trampoline. Reeve said to a magazine in 1981, “I put on thirty pounds, all muscle, in fact, I found muscles I never knew I had.”

Did They Keep It Up?:: He continued the role for another three films, so had to keep in ship-shape for those.

Mark Wahlberg

The Role: Micky Ward in The Fighter

The Technique: In 2008, he said, “‘I get up everyday at 5am to train for a movie that might not even happen. It’s depressing.” Training for a film that isn’t even definite, there’s dedication.

Did They Keep It Up?:: Wahlberg didn’t keep up quite as intense a workout, but with a Fighter 2 likely to happen, he’ll have to get back into shape.

Robert De Niro

The Role: Jake La Motta in Raging Bull

The Technique: De Niro became La Motta. He trained with him, followed his regime and even fought in three organised boxing fights, winning two of them.

Did They Keep It Up?:: De Niro has been gaining and losing weight for his roles long before Christian Bale became renowned for it. His rolls have come and gone with his roles.

Gerard Butler

The Role: King Leonidas in 300

The Technique: The whole film has Butler in nothing more than a cape and some pants, so he needed to be flawless. Mountain climber and conditioning coach Mark Twight bulked the stars up. The workout involved pull-ups, deadlifts, pushups and flipping tyres. Once Butler was done with his co-stars, he’d then do another training session on his own. We need a sit down after hearing all that.

Did They Keep It Up?:: He’s not a real Spartan, you’d be mad to keep a training regime like that up.

Ed Norton

The Role: Derek Vinyard in American History X

The Technique: High protein and strength building exercises were the order of the day to get Ed from being a weak looking skinny fella to a neo-Nazi prison worn warrior.

Did They Keep It Up?:: Not really, Norton had to split his personality into himself and Brad Pitt to start fighting anyone in Fight Club. He still threw his own punches around though.

You have to admire their dedication, it certainly wouldn’t be me.

Popularity: unranked [?]

10 Movie Stars Who Buffed Up For Their Roles

ADVERTISERS

TOPICS

AFFILIATIONS