These actors went to great lengths to prepare for their roles in some of the Hollywood's most popular movies. So today, we are counting down our picks for the top 15 most impressive body transformations for a movie role.
Let's start our list with one of the most dedicated actors out there, Christian Bale. The British actor is known for his transformations, but his biggest one happened when he bulked himself up to play Bruce Wayne in "Batman Begins" just months after he played the insomniac in "The Machinist" where he looked as skinny as the person can be.
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To play the god of thunder in "Thor," Hemsworth had to look the part. And if that was not impressive enough, he landed a role in the movie "Rush," where he had to drop a significant amount of weight to play Formula-1 World Champion James Hunt. Only to bulk up again for another "Thor" movie. His secret? Switching from a heavy weightlifting and eating as much as he possibly can to a non-stop cardio with a lower calorie intake.
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A Canadian actor has always been in good shape, but he really stepped up his game for his role in the "Blade Trinity" for which he gained 25 pounds of pure muscle, but not before dropping 10 pounds first. As for the diet, Ryan could eat whatever he wanted as long as he had a meal every 2 hours. That combined with the three-hours-a-day workouts was more than enough for Reynolds to land the role in this movie.
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The first lady on our list is none other than a two-times Oscar winner Hillary Swank. And we don't have to look further than these two Academy Award-winning performances to see how talented she really is. First, she portrayed a transgender boy in "Boys Don't Cry," but the real transformation happened when she gained almost 20 pounds of muscle to play a waitress-turned-boxer in "Million Dollar Baby."
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Before all the superheroes hit the big screens, there was Brad Pitt's Achilles from the movie "Troy." To be honest, this wasn't a big transformation since Brad has always looked shredded (just look at him in "Fight Club"), but this fact doesn't make the change in appearance any less impressive.
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Even though "The Legend of Tarzan" was slammed by critics, we must admit that Alex Skarsgard's transformation for this movie was rather impressive. But according to his trainer, their goal wasn't a traditional gym body, because they wanted Tarzan to look more similar to his primate family. They even went as far as to build an obstacle course in actor's home.
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There's no doubt that the role of Superman in "Man of Steel" launched Henry Cavill's career. But he didn't just transform his body; he also changed his whole attitude. Cavill went to great lengths to have the body of the superhero, and given the fact how amazing he looked in the movie, we have to say that his hard work definitely paid off.
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It took eight years for Will Smith to accept the part of the legendary boxer, Mohammad Ali. By his own admission, Smith wanted to be 100% certain that this was the role he was born to play. Once he accepted it, the actor dedicated himself entirely to this role. Not only did he learn all the boxing moves, but was also able to learn how to speak in Ali's unusual dialect.
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Bradley Cooper isn't exactly an actor you would imagine as Chris Kyle, a former Navy SEAL veteran and sniper who was a 230-pound bear of the man. But Cooper proved he can transform himself as he added 40 pounds of muscles. And he did so by eating almost 6,000 calories every day.
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Chris Evans gained quite a bit of muscle for his role as Captain America. And he did so by hiring the same trainer who helped Daniel Craig bulk up for Bond. The workouts were brutal, but the actor was able to endure. There was some serious heavy lifting involved in the process, and not one bit of cardio, as the actor himself confirmed. Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to get so big for the role.
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Now, let's talk about the other Chris and his amazing transformation. For his role as Star-Lord in "Guardians of the Galaxy," Chris Pratt had to drop a significant amount of weight and then bulk up. He managed to do that by combining a protein-based diet with a strict fitness regimen.
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Gerard Butler took physical transformation to a whole new level preparing for his role as the Spartan King Leonidas in "300." Sculping his body into that of a Greek warrior was no easy task, and it took seven months of heavy training.
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This British actor is known for his amazing body transformations. And his role in "Bronson" where he played a prisoner was definitely one of them since it required some serious bulking up.
Scarlet Johansson had to be in great shape for her role as Black Widow in the Marvel franchise. What's even more impressive is that she was actually pregnant while shooting "Avengers: Age of Ultron." Given how amazing she looked, it's no wonder she earned herself a place on this list.
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Last but not least we have Hugh Jackman and his amazing transformation into Wolverine from the "X-men" franchise. And we can't deny that he really dedicated himself to this role, especially in we take into account how lean he was before.
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