Mark Wahlberg Opens Up About Weight Changes For Roles
Published on November 12, 2014.Photo by Picture Perfect/REX
While many view the lifestyles of actors and actresses as nothing less then perfect and glamorous, many stars have opened up about the difficulties, health risks and worry from family that accompany them undergoing drastic physical changes for certain roles.
Mark Wahlberg, 43, is the most recent actor to discuss the drastic weight loss he underwent going from shooting the action packed, Transformers: Age of Extinction to his newest film, The Gambler.
In order to play the role of college professor and high-stakes gambler, Jim Bennett, he had to drop sixty pounds, for which he stopped eating whole foods entirely.
“I went from 197 [pounds] to, the lightest weight I’ve ever been in a movie was in Boogie Nights, I was 138 [pounds], so I wanted to beat that. I beat it by a pound, so 137,” he stated at a post-screening interview.
To go from completely ripped and all muscle in Transformers to his role in The Gambler, Wahlberg only had four months to lose the weight.
“Once I get into it I can’t stop, so it’s a 24 hour, 7 days a week thing. I stopped eating food for the first [six] weeks and just had small liquids throughout the day, then I was exercising two or three times a day,” Wahlberg explained how he achieved his record low weight.
The assault on his body also caused other health concerns for the actor, “No energy, no nutrition, and the studio, there was a complaint about that, that my lips were always looking blue. What the f–k do you want me to do? I haven’t eaten anything! If you make them red, I’m going to look weird, like I’ve got lipstick on, so it is what it is.”
While his wife and kids were worried by his extreme ways of preparing for roles, Transformers director Michael Bay was more concerned about filming Wahlberg for his projects.
“He [Michael Bay] goes, ‘You look like crap! What are you going to do? We’ve got to shoot in five weeks!’ […] He was more upset then my wife. I mean, my wife was a little freaked out that I was losing this much weight, but he was really freaked out,” Wahlberg said of Bay’s reaction.
While extreme changes in body weight has been done by many actors including Matthew McConaughey and Christian Bale, Wahlberg acknowledges it is part of what he has to do to be successful.
“Hard work pays off. I wouldn’t be in this position if I didn’t work as hard as I do. My worst fear is not being prepared. If you’re prepared you have the best chance of success.”
Also Check Out: 9 Popular Celebrities Who Refuse To Lose Weight For A Role