“must’ve been tricky finding time to get down the gym in between shoving chicken down his gullet and sitting on the” - made me laughing out loud. I hate “top ten” lists, but this one had me pretty entertained.

Christian Bale fucking rocks.

I think Renee looks hot when she’s chubby.

You missed Vincent D’onofrio in Full Metal Jacket and Adventures in Babysitting.
You can’t believe it’s the same man.

Daniel Craig? I hear he put on a lot of muscle for the Bond role.

you forgot tom hanks in cast away. until the machinist, it held the record for the most emaciated an actor had ever become for a role.

Great post - Bale & Zelwieger showed an uncanny ability to absolutely transform themselves to fit their role - I was impress by both, some great examples there - thanks for sharing the post!

i agree with chris..christian bale is amazing

one that was absolutely forgotten… Billy Bob Thorton in “Slingblade”. Another one that you might have never seen, but was equally astonishing was Marty Sader in a film called “Most High”. And last, but certainly not least, Tom Hanks in “Castaway”. All three of those roles make you wonder who that person is for a little while until you realise you’ve been looking at someone you know already for the last half hour.

And as far as Bale is concerned, he’s done it twice now… not only “The Machinist”, but also “Rescue Dawn”.

wOw, HiLary Swank and CharLize TherOn are great! I think that Travis BikLe frOm Robert de NirO in Taxi Driver is great tOO.

what’s with the archaic stones and lbs measurements. we want metric

You forgot Benicio Del Toro in “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas”. He put on 2.8 stone (40 lbs) for the role.

Yup , I second your thought Belvedere. And I think its how convencing and dedicated the acting comes across too.

To include De Niro is a given seeing that before his rebirth as a b-list crap movie “contender”, he set the bar high with method actors and with a natualism and imersion in a role.
Because he’s included then we shouldn’t forget Lon Chaney.

not long ago , I went through a “tuna diet” like that which C.Bale did for “The Machinist”.
You loose a pound a day and drink so much water and never have a bowel movement and in the process I quit smoking.

Why is it when anyone does a top ten list soom mook has to say “you missed such-an-such” off your list, every bloody time. It’s like it’s the same game that goes from list to list to leave his scent.

Watch the movie Requiem for a Dream. The Mom (Sarah Goldfarb) I think her name is Helen Bustaire is a chubby and curly haired woman at the beginning of filming. By the end of the movie (reportedly took five weeks to film) she is basically a wrinkly skeleton. Weighing in at a whopping 103 lbs. Definition of movie makeover. She lost over 53 lbs. DURING the filming. Dedication.

dudes, you like totally forgot about that dude who played the Dude? Yah, he like starting smoking weed & got pretty fat too.

Hillary Swank looks a bit like Matt Damon when she’s a boy.

Anyone have a feeling that some of these guys just *may* have had a little something extra in their protein shakes? (I’m looking at you Bale)

Don’t laugh at me for this, but remember how Vin Diesel changed from big, buff, shaven-headed action hero to chubby, balding mob defendant in Find Me Guilty. Also, he actually acted for the first time in a while.

How about Christian Bale between Empire of the Sun and American Psycho? it must have taken like 13 years to prep for that role!

After watching “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape” I wondered two things: why the credits listed Leonardo DiCaprio as being the movie, and how did they get mentally retarded kid to act so well? An AMAZING performance.

How ’bout Vincent D’Onofrio gaining 70 lbs to play the role of Pvt Pyle in Full Metal Jacket?

Yep! Welcome to the rest of the world: metric system! International standard!
Forget shit like lbs or stones!! Really archaic u.m.

ben stiller in permanent midnight lost about 30 pounds to play skinny heroine addict.

While it was a really small part, I couldn’t believe Donnie Wahlberg was the “kid” at the beginning of the Sixth Sense.

…I think another one would be the guy who played “Powder”. I forget his name, but when I saw him in another movie, I was like “there’s no way!”

If you know metric so well, just take One stone = 14lbs. Take the pounds and divide by 2.2, idiots. Every country worth their weight uses metric, EXCEPT the US. who’s archaic now?

Forgot to mention Robert De Niro in The Untouchables - heard he had to put on 60 pounds for Al Capone.

Kurt Russel in soldier was one that came to mind for me. No one beats Christain Bale though.

Honorable mention Dennis Quaid when he played Doc Holiday in Wyatt Erp with Kevin Costner. Not a great movie but I believe he almost killed himself.

Christian Bale’s ability to transform his body plus project the look as part of his character is amazing. He looks slim AND muscular in Reign of Fire, almost a third completely different body type than the two films he gets most attention for.

One word, Meth…

Not only did Bale lose the weight for Machinist, he did for absolutely no reason regarding the story. Since when do people lose weight from insomnia? It’s not even a symptom! It was shocking visually, but otherwise pointless.

it was only a bit part, but marky mark wahlberg lost some serious weight for the 6th sense

ever see castaway?

Michellin, you’re a tard.

Actually the Matt Damon mention isn’t even remotely a transformation.

Look:
# The Bourne Ultimatum (2007) …. Jason Bourne
# Courage Under Fire (1996) …. Specialist Ilario
From 1996 to 2007 is roughly what, 11 years? Anyone can go from String Bean to Effing Ripped in 11 years.

Keep in mind that:
# Good Will Hunting (1997) …. Will Hunting
Good WIll Hunting was done in 1997. That wasn’t even that radical a transformation, and he looks amazing in that movie, less than a year later.

So if he looks Ill and 1996 and in 1997 he looks normal and healthy again, sure he might have needed medical attention in 1996, but he’s healthy and quite normal in 1997.

Y’all need to get your astonishment in perspective here.

Awesome compilation. American History X remains in my Top10 of all time. And Yes Bale deserves the #1 spot for his sheer determinism, that bloke is insane.

Sadly, although Bale could change his body so greatly between these two movies, looking at the stills, he seems less able to change his facial expression.

The actress in Requiem for a Dream is Ellen Burstin, who was also the star of The Exorcist and Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.

Mark Wahlberg wasn’t in Sixth Sense. His brother Donny was.

Does everybody else think that Renee Zellwegger looks a million times better when she has boobs and a bum?

Ed Norton was definitely one scary son of a bitch in American History X!

No one has mentioned that FIRST Christian Bale pumped up for American Psycho. SECOND he lost weight for The Machinist. THIRD he regained weight/muscle for Batman. So, it was really a triple transformation.

Don’t forget Donnie Whalberg in The Sixth Sense as Vincent Gray. He was barley recognizable.

Christian Bale became my favourite after Equilibrium and amazes me with all his movie roles. His performance in Machinist is very scary and disturbing.

As a side note, Ed Norton and Eric Bana also kick ass

What happen with Santiago Segura??
Torrente!!!

Christian Bale didn’t gain 100 lbs in 6 months. It’s simply not possible. He might have been able to put on 40-50 lbs if he were taking massive amounts of both steroids and HGH along with insulin but no possible way would he have gained 100 lbs unless it was professional wrestler weight. You know how guys pretend to be 6 ft 8 in and 400 lbs but in actuality, they are 5 ft 9 in and weigh 200 lbs.

How can you leave out Jeff Daniel in The Big Lebowski???

no vincent d’onofrio?? awww 70lbs for full metal jacket!! he’s amazing…. i believe…

“The Machinist” is one of the greatest movies ever. Christian Bale is thrilling….

bonkers - no we want lbs and lbs only. screw “stones” and screw your metric system.

i know how christian bale did it. easy as this: do cocaine and lose 63 lbs and not want to stop “losin weight” but then gained 100lbs by droppin coke(cocaine) and then started smokin alot of pot and munched the fuck out. i’d do it to make millions?

I’m surprised nobody mentioned Kirstie Alley on Look Who’s Talking and now on her Weight Watcher Commercials.

I have to put a vote up for Will Smith and his role in Ali. He bulked up a good bit for that movie compared to his previous roles.

Edward Norton is amazing!

http://www.dtmdb.com

You forgot Poland.

What about Sylvester Stallone in “Rocky Balboa”? He’s like, 60! And he’s had to keep up his condition for the upcoming “Rambo 4″

Donnie Wahlberg in The Sixth Sense gets my vote as well. I didn’t know he was in it until I saw the credits. Then I had to go look for him in it.

You cannot beat Christian Bale’s amazing transformation from an 8 year old kid in Kingdom of the Sun to Batman’s Bruce Wayne. Truly astonishing. How did he do that?

you guys think those were amazing transformations? Come on. Has every one here forgotten one of the greatest trilogies of all time? Let’s take one long hard look at Elijah Wood and his absolutely amazing transformation into Frodo. Not only did he have to take nogenfogger elixers multiple times a day until he finally got the shrink effect to shoot the movie but he also had to grow larger feet and hairy ones at that! Then he put his own life at risk by carrying around this ring that was ultimately putting his life in danger. Talk about dedication. You guys are all chimps for thinking those were great feats. Frodo pwns all.

How on earth can you have a top-10 transformations without mentioning Linda Hamilton? She turned from a mild mannered underweight housewife type from terminator-1 into a muscle-bound ball-busting psycho military nut in terminator-2..

That took more effort than camping out at mcdonalds for a few months to gain weight…

That’s just brutal to see Christian Bale lose so much weight for one role and then bulk up for the next. That must be so taxing to his body.

You forgot Robert De Niro’s transformation in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. I think this one is impressive too.

On the other hand you wrote a great compilation. Good post!

Great List! Although, I have to give it to you that Charlize Theron takes the cake for “worst bastardization of beauty” for her role in “Monster”, but I think that frizzy-haired Cameron Diaz in “Being John Malkovich” is at the very least worth an honorable mention.

Also, possibly because it’s just a great freaking movie Jeff Bridges (not Jeff Dainels, sorry Keith) for playing The Dude in “The Big Lebowski”.

Ray-Bob, dude Elija wood was wearing makeup! And they used a ton of cgi and good old fashioned camera tricks to make it look like he was hobbit size. In reality he didn’t transform at all!

Hey Peter,

Linda Hamilton had 7 years to bulk up between Terminator and Terminator 2.

“Not only did Bale lose the weight for Machinist, he did for absolutely no reason regarding the story. Since when do people lose weight from insomnia? It’s not even a symptom! It was shocking visually, but otherwise pointless.”

It wasn’t pointless. The insomnia and weight loss was due to emotional stress the character was under. The reason for the stress becomes clear at the end of the film.

Renee Z fat = very shaggable, Renee Z thin = Well, I’d go with her but I’d be thinking of Renne Z fat.

What about Vincent D’Onofrio in Full Metal Jacket or The Salton Sea?

What about Rebecca Romijn for X-Men? She had to turn into a blue lizard-looking thing for 2 movies. The she changes back to an insanely hot nude woman in the space of a few seconds ONSCREEN in the third one!

Two words: Transformers. Dude, truck turns into robot? Hello? WITHIN the MOVIE at that. Come on, give props.

Also, V. D’Onofrio blew his effing head off in full metal. That goes above and beyond. Ever notice how they never shoot him from behind in Law & Order? Bald patch from bullet exit wound.

Above and beyond.

The great thing about Bale, in between shooting Batmans he did another movie where he was in a prison camp during the VIetnam War, called Rescue Dawn, and lost a considerable amount of weight, again, which he had back in time to shoot The Dark Knight. Crazy

I think that the right point and best perfomance is when an actor gains or loose in the same film, like, Chritian Bale, Tom Hanks in Philadelphia and Cast Away

Vincent D’Onofrio gained something like 70 pounds for his role as “Gomer Pyle” in the movie Full Metal Jacket. This guy would deserve a mention too!!!

Good list, and Bale does indeed take the cake.

But one should not forget Russell Crowe. For The Insider he gained a lot of weight, playing the role of a chubby businessman. Then six months later shooting for Gladiator began, and he was pretty buff in that movie.

Donnie Wahlberg also slimmed down to unhealthy levels to play the cancer-stricken retarded ‘Duddits’ in Dreamcatcher. An under-rated film when you consider it Jason Lee is hilarious and Tom Sizemore was probably on meth the whole time. Plus, Morgan Freeman is cool in any movie, but in this one he’s actually the insane bad guy.

what about keanu reeves in Little Buddha? he fasted for FORTY NINE DAYS. he went into malnutrition, was put into the emergency room cuz his kidneys failed, and as soon as he was done with little buddha four months later he did SPEED!

Dennis Quaid losing over 40 lb. to play the tubercular Doc Holiday!

the metric system is the devil!!!!

Stone… ridiculous Imperial system, nice lineup though.

Helen Bustaire? Come on. Imdb.

Anyhoo, in Requiem for a Dream, Ellen Burstyn did not lose that much weight for the part. She wore “fat suits” and prosthetics to make her appear larger in the beginning of the film. She may have lost some weight, but she did not undergo the entire transformation. That probably wouldn’t be advisable for someone of her age, man or woman.

You think Ed Norton’s transformation in “American History X” was something? Wait’ll you see him put on seven feet and 1500 pounds for his next role….

dumb list.

first of all - Charlize Theron in Monster? Let’s praise beautiful actresses for uglying-up (!) Why not put in America Ferrara or Cameron Diaz (!)

second - Ed Norton, America’s most lazy actor, lifts a few weights, gets a fake swastika tattoo. Let me bow before the new Brando (!)

third - Bana should be higher, for the actual performance also.

fourth - Jared Leto is a non-actor

fifth - Bale is hot at the moment but he doesn’t deserve the top spot.

Good Evening.

roy - you’re an ignoramus.

and what’s with the (!) ?

What about Adrian Brody for The Pianist? He lost A LOT for that role!

Cant beleive Gary Oldman isnt figured for “Sid & Nancy”

also Gerard Butler for 300 - he may have been in good shape before, but nothing like what he looked like in that film

Two you forgot: Benicio Del Toro in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and Vincent D’onofrio in Full Metal Jacket.

Copland does not belong on this list. At no point does Stallone take off his shirt and with his shirt on you can’t tell anything. He still looks like a steroid induced gym rat.

you forgot vincent d’onfrio in full metal jacket who, if i’m not mistaken, holds the record for most weight gained for a single movie role

Bale was a good choice for #1 but I’m surprised that Gerard Butler didn’t make the list for his amazing job in 300. Regardless of what you thought about the movie Butler did a fantastic job of transforming into King Leonidus..

ladies, ladies - seriously. deputy dog made a superb Top 10 list. OF COURSE not every single great physical transformation by an actor is here - hence the Top 10, rather than Top Infinity - so while some of you brought up excellent examples (Vincent D’Onofrio in multiple roles was a standout), this is still DD’s list. it is inevitably a work-in-progress - next year, he’s gonna have to weigh in Emile Hirsch for dropping 41 lbs for “Into the Wild.” the enthusiasm is awesome, but the petty attacks are pathetic. take it down a notch.

I would have included Russell Crowe’s transformation into Jeffrey Wigand in The Insider. Hard to believe he did Gladiatore a year later.

Also, Gary Oldman’s most incredible transformation (among many) is The Contender. That probably should have made the list.

No. 1 for me will always be DeNiro in “Cape Fear”. The man got so ripped that he reduced his body fat to 3% when he already 48 years old. Wow.

I loved “Batman Begins”, loved “American Psycho”, and I loved “The Prestige”. But seriously, fuck Christian Bale. What Bale did in “The Machinist” pissed me off. That kind of “dedication” to weight loss is what kills other people for various reasons. My God, what pretentious actor crap that is.

# 37 Amphetameme on Oct 8th, 2007 said:

Look:
# The Bourne Ultimatum (2007) …. Jason Bourne
# Courage Under Fire (1996) …. Specialist Ilario
From 1996 to 2007 is roughly what, 11 years? Anyone can go from String Bean to Effing Ripped in 11 years.

I can’t tell if you’re trying to be funny or not. Matt Damon lost 40 pounds DURING SHOOTING. He goes from being chubby at the beginning to being emaciated at the end. The Bourne Ultimatum doesn’t enter in to it. The choice of pictures, above, was a poor one.

Dennis Quaid in Wyatt Earp!

What about Drew Barrymore in ET - then - when she was in 50 First Dates - Wow now THAT was a transformation????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

How about the one for just one movie role. Tom Hanks in Castaway. He was heavy in the begninng and then in the end he was thin.

While I was watching The Machinist, I prayed to myself that Christian Bale didn’t lose those weight, I was hoping it was just special effect because I can’t imagine how someone can be so thin and still healthy and even function. Goodness that he really did. He is insane, indeed. But he is great actor and obviously take his craft very (too) seriously.

I totally agree with Drew! I remember telling friends about Vincent D’Onofrio’s roles, they couldn’t believe it until we watched the movies again and saw the credits! What a slug in Full Metal Jacket, what a hot babe in Adventures in Babysitting.

What about Ralph Fiennes for “Schindler’s list” he put on weight for that, and that was what i call a transformation, total genius on the acting part of it too. Also he put on alot of muscle for “Red Dragon”, and he lost alot of weight for “Spider”…lol i could go on…

but yes i agree with the Castaway suggestions as well…

but i guess you can’t fit everyone on the list.

Robert De Niro Is Amazing

ReneeZ was pretty much NORMAL sized for Bridget Jones and then went anorexic for everything else she’s been in.
The two pics you show of her are a good comparison, as they’re in the same pose. Losing every ounce of body fat shows pretty much what you see in the right photo. Bones. Unless you’re lifting weights to tone out, you look like a concentration camp refugee.

Ray-Bob III: Elijah turning into Frodo, that was f-ing hilarious.

Steven: Rebecca Romijn as Mystique…drool

You guys really made reading all the responses worth while.

Ramona: amen.

Where’s Gary Oldman on that list? He was so convincing as Drexel in True Romance that I didn’t even know it was him until someone pointed it out to me. That guy is a chameleon actor who blends into his roles. He’s played Beethoven. What, you don’t like Beethoven?
I know, you’re a Mozart fan. I loooooove Mozart. I mean, who could forget his performance as the psychotic Detective Stansfield in The Professional?

I heard that Christian Bale also had to stopped by the director of Batman Begins because he was becoming “too massive”. His intensity worries me sometimes….

matt damon lost weight with the talented mr. ripley then gained weight for stuck on you and lost weight/gained muscle for bourne supremacy

“Every country worth their weight uses metric”–that sounds elitist enough!

Why is everyone only concerned with weight loss/gain? Aren’t there other factors involved?

This list Clearly forgot one of thee best transformations on film, and that was Tom Hanks in Castaway. He had them pause production for 6 whole months while he grew a beard and starved him self.. clearly the best

Interesting post.

Hey… I should be on list.
I gained like 50 lbs so I could play the fat lazy guy that lives down the street.

you should look at Viggo Mortensen’s performances, too. Look at him in “G.I.Jane”, then in “a walk on the moon”, in “Eastern Promises”, in “Daylight”, in “LotR”, then in “28 Days”, in and least in “History of violence”. It’s amazing, how this guy can change! And he really prepares! He reads lots of books, travels to important places, talks to people who can tell him something e.g.: he spent about three weeks in Russia talking to mafia bosses to prepare for “Eastern Promises” - while nobody, not even his family, knew where he was. Which led to the situation that people thought he was a real mafioso when entering a russian pub after a hard shooting day. xD When he played a dumb man, he didn’t speak for the whole shooting time! He broke a tooth and a toe while shooting LotR, and he nearly died when jumping down a cliff. … I could go on for hours…^^
Just take a look at him, he’s pretty good. He deserves to be mentioned here.

Oh my God, I think I just had a revelation.

***SPOILER ALERT***
If you don’t want the ending of “The Prestige” ruined for you, please skip my comment…

Consider these facts:
A) Christian Bale is getting lauded for alternating between ripped and skinny.
B) In The Prestige he plays identical twins that pretend to be the same person.
C) He says he thought he could nail the Prestige character because of “the fact that this relies upon secrecy not only for his livelihood, but his for his very life and the fact that he was somebody who saw this as being so vital and such value for his life and pretty much the only thing he’s valued for by anybody.” (see http://www.darkhorizons.com/news06/prestige1.php )

I think the conclusion is clear:
Christian Bale isn’t gaining and losing weight every movie. He’s really two people - one skinny, one ripped - who are alternating their acting roles.

***END SPOILER***

Tom Hanks, Philadelphia.
fantastic.

What about Gary Sinese chopping his legs off for his role in Forrest Gump Or Danny DeVito changing his whole appearence for twins so he didn’t look like Arnold Schwarzenegger. (or was it the other way around…. remarkable)

I just thought about it, but Jerry O’ Connell in “Stand by me” is definitely a suprise. He was so heavy in that movie, then he slimmed up some (look at him at the T.V. show Sliders, the movie “Joe’s Apartment” or “Jerry Maguire”)

Talk about how much of a difference a decade or two can do a person.

I think renee looked better chubby, on the other picture she looks anorexic, but so does mat damon… but christian scared me the most… damn how the hell can you do that, i have problems losing even a pound!

(!) denotes irony Deputy Dog - you philistine. but then I remembered Americans don’t do irony.

roy - another comment wasted. i’m from manchester.

also, i believe you were looking for the international sign for sarcasm as i can’t see anything ironic about your previous comment.

Christian Bale may be a great actor but he shouldn’t be praised for gaining weight and getting ripped in so little time. There is no physically natural way to go from that skinny to ripped in six months. He must have shot up some roids along the way….

I think Christian Bale made the greatest transformation of all but Edward Norton isn’t too far away from him.

Christian Bale for the win

My god some of you are idiots.
Someone does a pretty serious post and you have to show how mindless you are by posting about Transformers, X-Men and LotR?
Also, read what someone has already posted so there aren’t so many posts about the same thing, i.e.:
“4. Drew on Sep 11th, 2007 said:
You missed Vincent D’onofrio in Full Metal Jacket and Adventures in Babysitting.
You can’t believe it’s the same man.”
“22. Swashbuckler on Oct 8th, 2007 said:
How ’bout Vincent D’Onofrio gaining 70 lbs to play the role of Pvt Pyle in Full Metal Jacket?”

Anyway, great list.
Interesting to see some of the incredible changes that happened in short spaces of time.
It takes a lot of dedication to go to some of those lengths, and that dedication is usually still there during filming, giving a much better performance.

I think you are forgetting Tom Hanks for Cast Away. Particularly when he showed up at the Oscars gaunt and bearded.

Regardless of how one may feel about what Mr. Bale did to himself for “The Machinist,” the effect definitely enhanced the overall impact of finally discovering who the character was prior to the onset of the insomnia. And I’d take exception with anyone who dismisses it as “pretentious actor crap.” Bale may to go extremes for his roles, but it’s no more offensive than an extreme sports athlete risking their life for a stupid trophy or medal. And if Bale were just another pretentious actor out for accolades and recognition, he’d actually be on talk shows promoting himself. He’d be just another Tom Cruise-esque media whore. I suspect he does what he does for entirely his own reasons.

Hey What about Kevin Spacey? He not only gains or losses weight in the same movie/s but in the Usual Suspects he transforms his whole appearance just through posture and attitude.

PS insomniacs can have an unfortuate tendnecy to gain weight not lose it.

I heard Christian Bale cut his penis off for the new batman movie. He’s the greatest.

I know that this is all subjective… but…

No Top 10 list of physical transformations is worth the value of the paper (or website) it is printed on without:

Tom Hanks for “Cast Away”
Adrien Brody for “The Pianist”
Vincent D’Onofrio for “Full Metal Jacket”

Sly doesn’t belong on the above list. He doesn’t look like a different person than normal in the movie. It’s not as if his 40 pounds were really that noticeable anyway.

I’m on the fence about Hilary Swank. She did an amazing job in “Boys Don’t Cry”, but ultimately it was just a haircut and some good makeup.

The 3 I mentioned above, Hanks, Brody, & D’Onofrio, went through incredible changes in a short time just so they’d “look the part” in their movies. While their faces didn’t change all that much (you could still tell it was them), you really felt for their characters. I was worried Hanks & Brody were going to waste away to nothing if the director’s wanted to add even another 15 minutes to the films…

I know it is a small movie and it has a lot more to do with makeup than losing-gaining weight; I mean it´s more a characterization than an actual physical transformation, but Gary Oldman in Nobody´s Baby is absolutely amazing. Then again, he ALWAYS is.

It´s vey strange to see terms like “lazy actor” and “pretentious actor crap” being used to describe two fairly gifted performers, such as Edward Norton and Christian Bale; but I suppose acting is very subjective, and everybody is entitled to his-her own opinion and taste, so; personally I think they both are a lot more interesting to watch than, say, Tom Hanks and most of his movies, but maybe it’s only me.

In reply to number 15, Jared Leto also lost 28 lbs for that role. But yeah, that wasn’t during. And the name of the actress who played Sarah Goldfarb was Ellen Burstyn.

Are you talking to me?

DeNiro is one of my all-time fave actors. Strangely, I’ve never seen Raging Bull.

And I prefer the thinner Renee.

Recently watched The Machinist and was amazed how Bale had dropped so much weight. Renee certainly looks sexier with the extra weight, rawr.

That’s some good company, with the exception of Stallone.

As I recall Charlie Sheen looked pretty pumped up in HotShots 2.

how did they miss castaway tom hanks lost and gains tons of weight for that role hes a great actor and highly devoted how did they miss that?

Metric is the international system, so you who defend pound, inch, foot, mile, gallon… should stay humble.

Wow…I’m glad Jared Leto got skinny.
I heart 30sec/mars!

I’m sure if I gained 28 pounds it wouldn’t all go to my breasts so therefore she had to have gotten breast implants or she is just not human. But thats just my oppinion.

Ya Bale probably juiced for batman, I can see the facial structure difference. I know ppl on roids.

Perhaps a bit more recent, anyone care to mention Gerard Butler prior to 300? He was soggy in the days of Reign of Fire, then managed to produce a physique rivaling that of Bale’s in American Psycho…only slightly larger.

you forgot del toro and depp in “fear and loathing in las vegas.” absolutely amazing transformations.

Okay…Jared leto..sick.

Wow.

Up, down, UP, down…

Much as I love Christian Bale, if he keeps up this weight/muscle seesaw, he’s gonna die young. And I will weep.

Renée should keep that weight on. She looks damn good with those apple cheeks and real tits.

Hilary Swank is amazing. I’ve liked her since The Next Karate Kid… when I was a kid.

Ed Norton is king. If I weren’t married, I’d so do him.

I like how unoriginal everything gets after such a long time. Case in point: one more person mentions Vincent D’Onofrio or Tom Hanks again, I’m gonna shoot them in the face. No joke.

Find something new to bring to the discussion.

I think it’s amasing how skinny Renee got after Bridget Jones, she wasn’t even that big during the filming, but she went way overbored with the diesting afterwards. I just hope that the ones who had to lose or gain a lot of weight got some profesional help with it or they could have permantly done harm to themselves. I think it’s the only career which demands people to do that to themselves.

I am disgusted at how SICK Renee looks as thin! She looks SO much better with some weight on her.

Vex on Oct 15th, 2007 said:
Perhaps a bit more recent, anyone care to mention Gerard Butler prior to 300? He was soggy in the days of Reign of Fire, then managed to produce a physique rivaling that of Bale’s in American Psycho…only slightly larger.

reign he was soggy yes, but then he did tomb raider and bulked up. he’s done that for quite a few movies now. he has the build to gain more mass like that, very lucky that way.

Since everyone is so concerned with weight loss and weight gain, I’m surprised no one has mentioned Toby Maguire. He was super ripped in Spider-man, then disgustingly small in Seabiscuit. Then he put the muscle back on for Spider-man 2, got really fat after The Good German, and then was thin again for Spider-man 3.

Personally, I’m not really impressed by an actors ability to lose or gain weight. I mean they have all the resources at their finger tips (trainers, chefs, drugs, surgeons).

I think if your gonna talk about the best transformations you talk about Doug Jones. That guy is amazing.

Poor Renee went from women to 10 year old boy. Which is really sad. Because she looked real good chubby and she looks happier in the chubby pic.

Well their weight didn’t change, but I didn’t recognize Uma Thurman in Pulp Fiction with her black hair; or one-eyed Darrel Hannah in Kill Bill. They really played out of their normal characters.

The post was very interesting.
Christian Bale is my third best actor after Tom Hanks and Bruce Willis.
Donnie Wahlberg, Sixth Sense amazed me in the film.

I would have to agree with most of the list, and while I agree that D’onofrio and Hanks both did incredible jobs transforming, I am more by the ability of an actor to make you forget who they are.
- Charlize Theron may have been wearing makeup to make that transformation in Monster, but it didn’t stop you from hating that pathetic creature she portrayed
- Donnie Walberg is unrecognizable in “The Sixth Sense”, but went to being a respectable, likable character in “Band of Brothers”, or the short run TV show “Boomtown”… Far cry from the bad boy in the NKotB
- Gary Oldman is one of the most impressive actors for making complete transformations, a strange, cartoon-like character in the fifth element, a rasta drug dealer in “True Romance”, to a US senator in “the Contender”… ok, so those three aren’t so far apart…

Christian Bale is a vegetarian, so he was unlikely to be stuffing his face with chicken Even more impressive gaining/loosing all that while on a veggie diet, talented and dedicated guy.

Hey I know this is a list of actual weight changes etc. and I agree with most of these, but I have to say, the most versatile actor I have ever seen is….. Johnny Depp! Watch Ed Wood, Edward Scissorhands, Willy Wonka, Finding Neverland, and pirates of the carribean, back to back, and tell me if he looks remotely like the same man in any of them!! He is also know for totally immersing himself in his character. In poc he actually got his teeth filed, and capped with gold!!

Wow some pretty amazing and scary transformations.

Don’t forget Daniel Day Lewis in “Last of the Mohicans” versus his role as Bob the Butcher in “Gangs of New York”. No matter how hard you look, you’ll never believe it’s the same actor.

If we were talking about TV, I’d vote for Michael Chiklis. Check out “The Commish” and “The Shield” for comparison.

Do people read comments before posting their own, are are they all just waiting to talk? If it’s the latter, then don’t bother talking, since the people you want to read your tripe are too busy talking themselves.

Some funny stuff here, but some seriously self-centred and egotistical ramblings clogging it up.

I’m in the camp that says if somebody is not the right build for a film, then don’t hire them. This is movies. It’s not war, or concentration camp, or terrorist prison. Do not build your part up.

However, if the part calls for it throughout the course of the movie then kudos. Well done. Gold star.

Case in point. George Clooney. Syriana. Put his back out for weight gain. Two questions. So? and Why?

Christian Bale. I can see why people like him, but I think he should work on his personality. There’s more to film than cosmetic indulgance.

I wouldn’t say Renee Zellwegger mastered the English accent in Bridget Jones. Not at all. In the first place, there is no such thing as “the” English accent; there are dozens of English accents. And secondly, hers was appalling. It was the usual fare produced by American actors doing English accents, with the notable exception of Dick Van Dyke!

by and large, great list… could be that a wider time frame would include some other contenders… speaking of the fourth dimension, what one does with one’s body over any amount of time is less remarkable to me than the changes some actors are able to produce instantly. look up a few stills from John Barrymore’s 1920 version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

Renee Zellweger fat is ugly and thin, sh4e looks like she’d break in half if you tried to shag her.

Tyan Rweynolds for Blade 3?

I was hoping Bale would be on here for the Machinist.. he looked emaciated in that movie.

What about Cate Blanchett who changes physically for every damn role she takes (Katherine Hepburn then Bob Dylan)!? Maybe not weight gain, but she always changes. Philip Seymour Hoffman’s weight loss for Capote? Vincent D’Onofrio for Full Metal Jacket, and as Orson Welles? Well, despite my complaining, I was impressed with the list. Very good recollection of amazing physical transformations for films.

I think Daniel Day Lewis or Cate Blanchett deserved honourable mentions for their continued dedication to changing physically for every role.

I can’t believe the dramatic transformation jared leto made for the film chapter 27, I recently saw an interview of him on the jimy carson show and he said that he could have just worn a fat suit but ne decided actually put on this tremendous amount of weight. I think this shows that he is a brilliant, and determined actor, who will do anything for his movies roles. And he has done really well by getting the weight of so quickly, he looks really hot.

I can’t believe Bencio Del Toro and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas wasn’t in that list.

Forgot George Clooney´s role in Siriana, he gained tons. Javier Bardem also shifts weight a lot.

Hilary swank is amazing.I wonder she must be feeling during the days she was wrapped.You can see true professionalism of the actors in this post.