5 Actors/Actresses Who Put on Weight for a Role

Proving their dedication to a role, these 5 actors/actresses have all altered their figures by adding some extra pounds to their bodies. Some weren’t asked to put on the weight but felt it was more realistic for their character to weigh more than they do, while other knew they had to pack on the pounds and had to force feed themselves purposefully. Some enjoyed pigging out to add those few extra inches to their waistlines but then hated it when they needed to drop the weight after the cameras stopped rolling. Other stars went to extremes and believe they were in a very unhealthy place after their weight gain, even taking them up to a year to get their usual figure back.

Hilary Swank

Hilary admitted that she finds it hard to gain weight, but did put on 15 pounds for her part in ‘Conviction’: “I personally have difficulty keeping weight on, and for this role I had to add 15lbs. My character, a single mom, hadn’t any opportunity to stay fit. For my own needs, I like working out. But to gain weight I stopped that. Besides, this was an independent film. Small budget. We filmed long hours, long days. No time to work out. Normally I only eat until I’m full. On this shoot, I kept eating more. Even when I was full, I’d eat more. With nowhere to go, the weight stays on you.”

Isla Fisher

To play the part of Myrtle Wilson in ‘The Great Gatsby’, Isla decided to put on 10 pounds for her character and found it easy: ”It’s pretty easy. They didn’t tell me to put on weight. I just knew the character was described as buxom, so I wanted to do the book justice.”

Jared Leto

Jared piled on the pounds for his part as Mark Chapman in ‘Chapter 27’ but says he wouldn’t do it again: “I’d never do it again; it definitely gave me some problems. I don’t know if it was gout – but I had a definite problem with my feet. Towards the end of the shoot, one of the glaring issues was the pain I had with my feet. I couldn’t walk for long distances; I had a wheelchair because it was so painful. My body was in shock from the amount of weight I gained. It took about a year to get back to a place that felt semi-normal. I don’t know if I’ll ever be back to the place I was physically.”

Kim Cattrall

For her part in ‘Meet Monica Velour’, Kim put on 20 pounds which she enjoyed but she hated the hard work which came once the cameras stopped rolling: “I play an over-the-hill stripper. I gained 15 pounds, then through the course of shooting, I gained another five. It was heaven putting it on and hell taking it off.”

Tom Hardy

While preparing to play Bane in ‘The Dark Knight Rises’, Tom Hardy did his best to pile on the pounds. Speaking at the time about reaching his goal weight, he commented: “He wasn’t very menacing in Batman and Robin. Chris Nolan will revisit that territory entirely so I wouldn’t go by that. I’ve got to get up to about 189lbs or 196lbs. I’m 168lbs-and-a-bit now and we start shooting in May so I’ve got only three months to bulk up, it’s a lot of fat and trickery.”