Mark Wahlberg is known for his svelte physique — but like many other actors, he's willing to completely transform his body for his craft.
The actor was spotted on the set of his latest film Father Stu, and fans are saying that he is looking unrecognisable amidst a reported 20-pound weight gain.
According to the actor's personal chef, he managed to pack on the pounds by eating eight meals a day in order to have a total daily intake of around 7,000 calories. Woah!
But Wahlberg isn't alone — here are 12 other actors who gained incredible amounts of weight to do their characters justice...
1. Christian Bale — Vice (2018)
To play the former Vice President, Dick Cheney, Bale gained 40 pounds by "eating a lot of pies".
But that's not all, the actor also shaved his head, bleached his eyebrows, and his co-star Steve Carell claimed that he did specific exercises to thicken his neck.
Bale, however, shirked off the praise he received for his gruelling preparation, telling Yahoo: "[I was trying to provide] a blank canvas through which these incredible [hair and makeup] artists could create the various ages of Cheney. . . . They would shave my head every day, bleach and pluck eyebrows."
Understandably, Bale has since said that he won't be undertaking such intense roles in the future. "I've become a little bit more boring now, because I'm older and I feel like if I keep doing what I've done in the past I'm going to die. So, I'd prefer not to die," he explained to E! in 2019.
2. Matt Damon — The Informant! (2009)
Damon enjoyed gaining weight for his role as the vice president turned CIA informant, Mark Whitacre, in The Informant!
"I definitely got doughy," the actor told Entertainment Weekly. "I started eating like crazy and drinking dark beer. Between meals on set, I'd eat a No. 1 Value Meal at McDonald's and then Doritos on top of it. It was absolute heaven."
Sounds like a pretty sweet role to me!
3. Hilary Swank — Million Dollar Baby (2004)
While training for Million Dollar Baby, Hilary Swank consumed a whopping 210 grams of protein every day for three months.
When speaking about the experience, Swank told Movieweb that it was "just the worst thing ever".
"My training was two and a half hours of boxing and approximately an hour and a half to two hours lifting weights every day, six days a week. The producers asked me to gain 10 pounds of muscle. I gained 19 pounds of muscle. I started at 110 and went to 129. I would drink my egg whites because I could never eat 8 to 12 egg whites in a sitting."
4. Tom Hardy — The Dark Night Rises (2012)
Hardy didn't have an easy ride when preparing to play Bane in the Dark Night Rises. In fact, some fans of the Batman franchise didn't believe that the actor had bulked up enough for the role.
Defending his weight gain, Hardy told CineMovie that he got up to 190 pounds.
"I'm at 190 pounds. Bat fans want me to be over 220lbs. 400lbs. I'm like dude! Batman is like Superman, Spider-Man — he belongs to so many people. So many people love him. He belongs to them, and when you step into that kind of character, you are going to fail. And be judged. I'm human, and I do read things. I read the comments, and I cry. I can't cry for everybody. I just give them a job, and be the best that I can be. Just trust me. I trust Nolan."
5. Ryan Reynolds — Blade Trinity (2004)
Reynolds told Men's Fitness that he gained 25 pounds of muscle for Blade Trinity after sticking to a 3,200-calorie daily diet, and doing workouts six days a week for three months. This was a routine that the actor also adhered to when going to work on the Green Lantern.
His trainer, Bobby Storm, told WebMD that he worked out 90 minutes every day for six to seven months to bulk up to 200 pounds.
"For a romantic comedy, he needs to shrink down a bit," Storm explained. "For Blade and Green Lantern, he was 200 pounds and 8% body fat. For rom coms, he's about 180 and 11% body fat."
6. Matthew McConaughey — Gold (2016)
In order to gain 47 pounds for his role in Gold, McConaughey told Graham Norton that he had a "yes" rule.
"Pizza night could be any night and if the kids wanted to go bowling at midnight on a school night that was a great idea too," he told the host. "Cheeseburger and beer for breakfast was a great idea too. I really relaxed on the rules! I was fat and happy."
7. Charlize Theron — Tully (2018)
Charlize Theron gained 50 pounds in three months for Tully by eating at all hours of the day, according to Entertainment Tonight. The experience, however, was not enjoyable for the actor, and it took her a year and a half to lose the weight.
Speaking about the experience to the publication, she said: "I wanted to feel what this woman felt, and I think that was a way for me to get closer to her and get into that mindset. I got hit in the face pretty hard with depression.
8. Christian Bale — American Hustle (2013)
Bale undertook an impressive transformation for his role in American Hustle. The actor actually was so unrecognisable that his co-star, Robert de Niro, had to ask who Bale was when he arrived on set.
The actor estimated that he went from 185 pounds to 228 for the role, which meant that he gained 43 pounds. He told People that he achieved it by, "Eating doughnuts, a whole lot of cheeseburgers, and whatever I could get my hands on."
Bale also shaved his head, and assumed a slouch that was so forced that he accidentally herniated a disk in his back.
9. Renee Zellweger — Bridget Jones' Diary (2001)
Per People, Zellweger packed on the pounds to portray Bridget Jones. For the first movie, Bridget Jones' Diary, she gained 30 pounds.
For the second, The Edge of Reason, she went from a size four to a size 14 by eating 4,000 calories a day.
For the third film, Bridget Jones' Baby, director, Sharon Maguire, stressed that the actor didn't need to gain weight for the role — citing shifting societal attitudes. "Sharon was hoping we could show that Bridget had achieved her ideal weight, but at the same time it didn't mean her life was perfect," the 52-year-old told the Daily Telegraph.
Ultimately, Zellweger told Vogue UK, as reported by Hello, that she did end up gaining a little weight to reprise the part in 2016.
10. Bradley Cooper — American Sniper (2014)
For his role in American Sniper, Cooper bulked up to 225 to portray US Navy SEAL, Chris Kyle.
Speaking to Men's Health about the experience, the A Star is Born actor revealed that he worked with trainer, Jason Walsh, twice a day to help him gain muscle in 10 weeks.
The publication details: "In the first workout, beginning at 5 a.m., they focused on structural exercises like deadlifts and squats to build a foundation solid enough to hold the extra mass. The second workout, late in the afternoon, was more focused on traditional muscle-building exercises. Cooper needed both types of training to convincingly portray Chris Kyle."
11. Emma Stone — Battle of the Sexes (2017)
Emma Stone went through a physical transformation to portray real-life tennis icon, Billie Jean King, in Battle of the Sexes.
The 32-year-old gained 15 pounds of muscle over three months in order to portray King as she prepared for her legendary tennis match with Bobby Riggs.
Per USA Today, Stone worked with trainer, Jason Walsh, who is the founder of Rise Nation. Her exercise regimen involved walking with dumbbells, and 300-pound hip thrusts. Eventually, the La La Land star was able to deadlift up to 180 pounds and could do pushups with 50 pounds of chains on her back. She also added two high-protein shakes with "hundreds of calories" into her diet.
Speaking to the publication about Stone's work ethic, Walsh said: "She took it seriously. She wanted to do the story justice. She needed to be resilient and to have the psyche of being really strong."
12. Robert de Niro — Raging Bull (1980)
De Niro underwent quite the body transformation for the Martin Scorses's Raging Bull, in which he played legendary boxer, Jake LaMotta.
In a 2013 interview, the actor revealed that he trained with LaMotta for almost a year, doing one-on-one sparring sessions, and going through at least "1,000 rounds" together in New York City.
As a result, he added more than 20 pounds of muscle to his body, and obtained the physique of a real boxer during filming. He even competed in three organised bouts, where he won two, per Vanity Fair.
La Motta was so impressed with the actor's dedication that he said that de Niro could have fought professionally if he so desired.
