Bradley Cooper has become a well-known name in Hollywood in the past decade. With films like ‘Silver Linings Playbook’, ‘Limitless’, and his wonderful voice acting in ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’, the Philadelphia-born actor has certainly proved his acting skills. His most memorable performance, however, has to be that of Jackson Maine, the alcoholic singer discovering a promising young singer and falling in love with her in the process.
What makes his performance there extremely powerful is the fact that he hows off not only his acting skills but his impressive vocals. Other than that, Cooper also directed, co-produced and co-wrote the film. All that talent could never go unnoticed.
Mark Wahlberg
Marky Mark made cinema history in 1997, when he played the star of Paul Thomas Anderson's classic film 'Boogie Nights'. With the countless movies he's starred in ever since, it's hard to pick a best performance, but one thing's for sure: his most incredible transformation was in the 2014 drama, 'The Gambler'. Playing a literature professor with a series gambling addiction, Wahlberg had to lose 40 pounds!
The actor claimed that he was on a rigid six-week liquid diet that consisted of drinking 8 ounces of almond milk three times a day. "I was miserable because I like food," said Wahlberg in an interview with E!. And since the actor wasn't losing enough weight on the almond milk diet, he also had t exercise for three hours every day, after a 12-hour work day!
Russell Crowe
Russell Crowe had to work hard to achieve his chiseled 'Gladiator' figure. Despite him playing in other films or TV shows prior to Ridley Scott’s Gladiator, this film is what made him world-famous. His part as Maximus the gladiator won Crowe an Academy Award for Best Actor. Crowe and Scott worked together again in 2008's 'Body of Lies', where Crowe played a CIA agent. For the part, and as per Ridley Scott's request, Crowe had to gain weight to portray the heavy, sedentary Ed Hoffman, which meant Crowe had to give up his gladiator body for the job.
Crowe claimed that he just "decided to eat whatever he wanted", and made sure he had the most sedentary lifestyle possible. In an interview with E! news, the former gladiator rightly said, “If you want to put on weight, you just elect to live a sedentary life style,”. That definitely sounds like a "diet" plan we can get behind of.
Gerard Butler
Gerard Butler cemented his name in Hollywood after starring in the epic war action film, '300'. For part of King Leonidas, Butler had to go through four arduous months of hard training, which included working out for six hours a day. For two of those six hours, Butler and the rest of the cast endured a special training that included deadlifts, pull-ups, push-ups, box jumps, and more, in order to keep all the men in perfect shape. After all, they were playing Spartans.
Butler has said that he was inspired by seeing the other members of the cast train so hard too, and it pushed him to do more every day. He has said that "it was a very powerful place to be".
Ewan McGregor
Ewan McGregor’s face has been on numerous modern day classics. From Moulin Rouge to the Star Wars franchise, McGregor has done it all. However, his part in Fargo is definitely one to remember. Sitting at dinner with creator Noah Hawley in Los Angeles, just three months before production was scheduled to begin, Ewan McGregor was 45 years old and in great shape. That’s when he learned for the first time that his physique was not going to be compatible with his new role. “You need to put on weight,” Hawley told him.
His new routine went something like this: “I just started eating whatever I wanted. I made sure that I had carbs with everything and French fries with everything. I didn’t have any technique other than eating a lot.” McGregor avoided standing on a scale, so he never weighed himself. When he went to pick up some Levi’s that fit him, however, the change was obvious. The size of the new pair was three inches bigger than his regular size. After going back to his normal weight, he could use those jeans to store his Golden Globe.