Oscar best actor winner Brendan Fraser returned to the silver screen after a two-decade hiatus to play the role of Charlie, a home-bound, obese man who teaches an online writing class in the film The Whale. While the actor morphed himself into the 600-pound character with the help of a prosthetic fat suit, there have been numerous instances where actors push their weight to both extreme ends of the spectrum to fulfil a role.
The 185-pound,183 cm Christian Bale might be the most famous example when it comes to actors dedicating their bodies to their crafts. He shed 63 pounds to play the caped superhero in the 2005 film Batman Begins, then in 2013 put on 43 pounds for the movie American Hustle. Both times the actor was given just months to hit the weight goal.
Renee Zellweger gained 20 pounds to play a character who struggled with her weight in the 2001 hit Bridget Jones’s Diary.
While most regular folk will unlikely need to change their body for a job, myriad factors can contribute to the sudden weight change.
Calorie-dense or deficit diets, or in extreme cases sustaining off of coffee and cigarettes and engaging in rigorous cardio and weight training, strategies actors often rely on to prepare for a role, can have a pronounced negative impact on health.
Here, we look at some long-term effects of extreme weight change.
Heart disease
Between pumping bodies full of fats and sugars to gain weight and starving and chain-smoking, the heart beats when the body experiences weight changes. High or low blood pressure caused by lack of or over-exercising can be extremely dangerous.
Diabetes
Type 2 diabetes can be triggered by rapid weight gain. Overconsumption of fats and sugars causes insulin resistance and can seriously damage the body’s ability to regulate blood sugar levels, according to the American Diabetes Association.
Hormonal imbalance
Malnutrition can impact hormone levels and cause everything from loss of muscle density to disruption of menstrual cycle and even infertility.
Mental health
A distorted relationship with food can lead to everything from body dysmorphia, anorexia and bulimia and overall mental stress. It can take years and sometimes decades for those struggling with food and weight to step out of the shadows of their eating disorder. Cultivating unhealthy eating habits can have long-term effects on how and what we eat, too. Individuals have reported developing aversions to specific foods they cut or binge on during periods of extreme weight changes.