Top 10 Actors Who Got Buff For a Movie Role

Script written by David Norris

Top 10 Actors Who Got Buff For A Movie Role

Wow, when did he get so big? Welcome to WatchMojo.com, and today we’re counting down our picks for the top 10 actors who got buff for a movie role.

For this list, we’re looking at actors who put on considerable muscle mass to play a role in a movie, with special consideration given to those who did so in a relatively brief period of time or who underwent dramatic physical transformations compared to their previous looks. We’re also keeping this list to the men, as an actress list is for another day.

#10: Hugh Jackman
“The Wolverine” (2013)

After an entire trilogy of “X-Men” movies where he looks like a less-burly, less-muscular Wolverine compared to his comic book inspiration, Hugh Jackman finally got absolutely shredded to play the lead role in 2013’s “The Wolverine.” In order to get the ideal muscly, veiny, animalistic yet cut look for the film, Jackman adhered to a diet recommended by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson which required the actor to eat 6,000 calories a day in tandem with an intense workout regimen. And it seems to’ve worked, if you look at Jackman’s physique in 2000’s “X-Men” compared to “The Wolverine”. Talk about aging gracefully.

#9: Mark Wahlberg
“Pain & Gain” (2013)

Years after his glory days as a muscle-bound Calvin Klein model, Marky-Mark regained his former build to play an eccentric body building ex-con in this crime-comedy. And he did it after having trimmed down to ar elatively slim 165 for his role in the 2013 crime thriller “Broken City.” In order to look halfway normal-sized next to his 6’5”, 265-pound co-star Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Wahlberg undertook an intense weight training routine and ate roughly 12 meals a day to pack on 40 pounds in just two months. And, of course, he had to keep this routine up while he worked long hours onset. Hey, no pain; no gain.

#8: Michael B. Jordan
“Creed” (2015)

In this spiritual successor to the Rocky franchise, the formerly slight Michael B. Jordan bulked up considerably in order to portray the illegitimate son of Apollo Creed. Jordan did most of his physical fitness training with celebrity trainer and body transformation specialist Corey Calliet, and it was as tough as you think: workouts 2-3 times a day, six days a week and a very bland diet for almost a year contributed to his impressive transformation. And, because he didn’t have a body double for “Creed,” Jordan also learned to box. The result of all this hard work was 24 pounds of muscle gained, a successful sequel filmed and the approval of Sylvester Stallone himself earned.

#7: Chris Hemsworth
“Thor” (2011)

Playing a superhero is tough enough, without the added pressure of also being a Norse god. Fortunately, the 6’4” actor rose to the occasion to play Marvel’s god of thunder so valiantly that when it came time to begin filming, Hemsworth’s Thor costume wouldn’t even fit. Adding about 20 pounds to tip the scales at 215, he reportedly adopted a high-protein diet and an ever-changing, intense weight-training workout. Unfortunately for Hemsworth, between 2011’s “Thor” and 2013’s “Thor: The Dark World,” the Aussie actor was cast in “Rush” as racecar driver James Hunt. That meant that he not only had to drop 30 pounds in four months; he also had to gain it back before he picked up his hammer again.

#6: Tom Hardy
“Bronson” (2008)

Before he was Bane, Tom Hardy was Bronson. And his role as the infamous English criminal prompted him to seriously bulk up. But rather than getting ripped, Hardy needed to look like a guy who spent much of his life in prison, and most of his time there in solitary confinement – meaning he had a chance to attend to his muscles. He got that “brawler” look by adding 42 pounds of muscle and fat to his 5’9” frame in roughly seven weeks, thanks to a diet of chicken, rice, pizza, ice cream and Coke. His workouts involved press ups, push-ups and other exercises a prisoner might be able to do – and it worked. Even the real Bronson was impressed.

#5: Daniel Craig
“Casino Royale” (2006)

The names Buff, James Buff...we mean Bond. While not one of the youngest actors on this list, Craig proved in “Casino Royale” that wisdom is not the only thing that comes with age; sometimes you can get a killer physique as well. In order to get in shape as perhaps the most built Bond yet, Craig cut the crap from his diet, focusing on quality proteins and greens and minimizing his carb intake, gave up smoking, and began weight training five days a week, with cardio on the weekends. Fun fact: when Craig learned he had the role, he contacted ex-Royal Marine Simon Waterson, who had trained other movie actors including former Bond, Pierce Brosnan.

#4: Bradley Cooper
“American Sniper” (2014)

Another actor who bulked up to take on a military role; Bradley Cooper went from 185 pounds to a meaty 225 in just 10 weeks to accurately portray U.S. Navy SEAL sniper Chris Kyle. To get to his desired size, Cooper took on two workouts a day plus was reportedly force-fed over a 5,000-calorie-a-day diet. Cooper also trained as a sniper, a skill he picked up fairly quickly. But even so, the hardest part was eating every 55 minutes. Still, his hard-work did pay off, as Cooper received an Oscar nomination for best actor, so it was all worth it, right?

#3: Jake Gyllenhaal
“Southpaw” (2015)

If you’re going to play an undefeated professional boxer, you gotta look like one, and Jake Gyllenhaal certainly did in “Southpaw.” In contrast to the unusually lanky build he took on for “Nightcrawler” just one year prior that resulted from his 30-pound weight loss, Gyllenhaal gained roughly 15 pounds of pure muscle for “Southpaw” by training twice a day, seven days a week. Those intense training sessions also helped him learn the fundamentals of the sport so he could appear to be a seasoned fighter in the ring. That dedication paid off, as Gyllenhaal was praised for his performance – both as an actor and a boxer.

#2: Christian Bale
“Batman Begins” (2005)

Already the #1 pick on our list of the Top 10 Actor Body Transformations; this committed thespian appears on this list not only because of the seemingly superhuman bodybuilding he did to star in “Batman Begins,” but also because of where he started out. In 2004, Bale lost 62 pounds for his role in “The Machinist” by subsisting on water, apples, coffee and not much else. He was left with roughly six months after filming concluded to pack on the 100 pounds necessary to play a convincing Batman. With the help of a trainer, pizza and ice cream, he did it – and even surpassed his goal enough that he had to lose weight before filming began.

But before we get to our number one pick, here are a few honorable mentions:
- Gerard Butler
“300” (2007)
- Chris Evans
“Captain America: The First Avenger” (2011)
- Mickey Rourke
“The Wrestler” (2008)
- Brad Pitt
“Troy” (2004)
- Jamie Foxx
“Any Given Sunday” (1999)
- Edward Norton
“American History X” (1998)

#1: Chris Pratt
“Zero Dark Thirty” (2012)

You may’ve been expecting us to choose his star-making role in “Guardians of the Galaxy.” And he did manage a significant transformation for that movie considering he’d just gained 60-pounds – and not in the good way – for 2013’s “Delivery Man.” But “Parks and Rec”’s doughy and lovable goofball Andy Dwyer first became a muscled hunk for “Zero Dark Thirty.” Whereas for “Guardians” Pratt had the help of a trainer and a nutritionist, for Kathryn Bigelow’s action thriller he bulked up the unhealthy way, by starving himself and pushing his body as hard as he could. Despite his resulting need for shoulder surgery, the move seems to have worked and Pratt successfully exercised his way to leading man status.

Do you agree with our list? Which actors do you think got mind-blowingly buff for a movie? For more star-studded top 10s published every day, be sure to subscribe to WatchMojo.com.