Interesting Read on The New Necessity for Male Actors to be 'Ripped'

[IrishMartian]

Articles here.

 

It's an interesting read, also good to hear a lot of the professional trainers say there really are no short cuts and to favor old school barbell work over local gym bouncing ball balancing bollocks. But these trainers are also 'practically living with' the actors to make sure they meet the goals set by the studios.

 

Relevant as I imagine a lot of geeks (like me) are slowly creeping into the gym due to seeing their comics book icons realised convincingly in the flesh on film. While the Thor/Cap America ideal is often unobtainable in reality in short periods of time and downright dangerous in the long term (few paragraphs on severe body fat drops and the negative side effects) these are the lengths male actors are required to go to these days to land coveted franchise roles.

 

Off course it goes without saying women actors have been killing themselves for a loooooooooong time to maintain the same ideal.

[Ahyar Dreamspark]

Wow, mind-blowing. Some of the things these guys go through is freaking obscene. Getting ripped in 8 weeks for temporary results just sounds like...no.

 

I don't know if it's just me being naive, but I've always been under the impression that most actors were very fit and embraced a healthy diet and lifestyle year-round, and simply worked out a little harder when move time came up. Looks like I was wrong. Or that I don't read enough tabloids lol.

 

It's also lifted my spirits a great since I do have a healthy diet and lifestyle just because I want to and know that it's good for me. So at this time next year I'll probably be ripped AND healthy. Without dat juice.

[matty_mcfly]

Good read

[humanperson832]

Interesting read. I think the film industry is just not what it used to be. Everything is required to be MORE these days. More results on less money, the actors have to be more attractive, the crews have to be more skilled in a shorter amount of time, more profit margin on a thread-bare budget to begin with... because if YOU can't meet the nearly impossible demands the studio is making, they've got 30 other folks who can and will. It's a matter of supply far exceeding demand.

 

Also, being an actor and having a healthy lifestyle don't necessarily go in hand. Let's not forget the stereotype-that-isn't-really-a-stereotype of the actor who smokes cigarettes.

 

Let's just say, for example, that an actor is doing a press cycle for his newest feature film in which he's starring. He's probably getting up at 4 or 5am for an 18-hour day of press junkets and appearances, sometimes being in two different cities in a single day. Dang, that's exhausting. He needs to have a drink to unwind or, heaven forbid, hit something a little harder if he needs the energy. You do that for 2 or 3 weeks, that snowballs into having to do an upper to get going and doing a downer to get a couple of hours of sleep. (I'm not condoning this type of behavior, just illuminating what the general public usually doesn't see.) Shoot, even I have a tough time maintaining the basics, and I'm not even technically in the entertainment business. I'm certainly not on the talent side.

[Machete]

On a related note:

 

6 Cheap Acting Tricks That Fool The Critics Every Time

 

Preparing for a shoot is actually easier than one would expect. I have done it a few times, mostly to prove a point. This particular Australian girl did her "transformation" in 15 minutes.

 

[SevenofSeven]

"Everybody can get a six-pack, so it has no value. Everybody starts to look alike. It's the soul that makes you a movie star. Not your body."

I love this, I loved 300 but don't like Gerard Butler and haven't seen anything else he has done, he was awesome in that movie. I love ( no really have a huge crush ) Tom Hardy, love his body in Warrior, adore his physique as Bane and Bronson but you should see him in the BBC Wuthering Heights as Heathcliff or the short film Stuart A Life Backwards just as awesome.

Body or not you can either act or you can't.

[Machete]

"Everybody can get a six-pack, so it has no value. Everybody starts to look alike. It's the soul that makes you a movie star. Not your body."

I love this, I loved 300 but don't like Gerard Butler and haven't seen anything else he has done, he was awesome in that movie. I love ( no really have a huge crush ) Tom Hardy, love his body in Warrior, adore his physique as Bane and Bronson but you should see him in the BBC Wuthering Heights as Heathcliff or the short film Stuart A Life Backwards just as awesome.

Body or not you can either act or you can't.

 

Even Adrien Brody got jacked in Predators.

 

I liked The Ugly Truth. A lot of the guys I worked with were really into P.S. I Love You. They also have a huge man-boner for Tom Hardy. Daniel Day-Lewis though, that guy just gets after it.

[Cr33g]

This is an interesting read. Reminds me of two actors... Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale. 

 

It reminds me of an interview I saw with Hugh Jackman regarding The Wolverine. Jackman talked about that one specific scene where he, of course, has his shirt off and ends up fighting one of the film's characters in a duel. Wolverine's going nuts with his claws, his opponent wields a katana sword. It's a cool fight. Jackman looked absolutely ripped in that scene. Everyone knows that one bit when he's walking and his chest muscles are literally pulsating and flexing. 

 

In the interview, Jackman said for that week he had ate very literally and didn't have much water. Upon waking up before a shoot he'd have a gym session, then he'd have another gym session after the day's shooting. On the day of this specific fight, Jackman had absolutely nothing to eat, nothing to drink, had little sleep and had a gym session that morning. Jackman recalls having a massive head ache all day and just feeling like absolute crap. 

 

Then there's Christian Bale. For the film The Machinist, Bale had to drop about sixty pounds (nearly thirty kilos) of body weight to play the anorexic insomniac lead. Then right after he had to prepare himself for Batman Begins. He gained eighty pounds of weight (nearly fourty kilos) of body weight after being told to "get as big as you can", when he arrived they said he was too big, calling him "a bear". One of the fellas said something along the lines of "We wanted Batman, not Fatman". So Bale had to go back, lose twenty pounds (nearly ten kilos) of body weight to come back as a leaner Batman. 

 

It's absolutely crazy what actors have to put themselves through to achieve their goals and get the roles and work they want. 

[maegs]

I saw the Winter Soldier last week, and something that I noticed while watching it was that [the actor playing WS which might be spoilery] didn't have a six-pack. It stuck out to me exactly because it's become so de rigueur for actors to have six-packs. And I don't know where I'm going with this...

 

ETA: And Tumblr provides

[TheOtherScott]

Body or not you can either act or you can't.

 

That's my feeling, too.  Yes, there are roles that require an actor or actress to look like they can do what the character does, but there's only a handful of movies about superheroes and spartan warriors.  I liked the balance they achieved with Matt Damon in the Bourne movies.  He's obviously strong and fit, but doesn't look superhuman.

[IrishMartian]

That's only for Comic Book Movies, not real actors

 

 

 

Kevin Spacey had to work very hard to beef up for American Beauty. Likewise De Niro for Raging Bull. Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler took steroids (mentioned in the article). There's plenty off examples of Academy Award films with actors going to physical extremes.

 

Also, I freaking love comic book movies. May their renaissance never end.

[IrishMartian]

"Everybody can get a six-pack, so it has no value. Everybody starts to look alike. It's the soul that makes you a movie star. Not your body."

I love this, I loved 300 but don't like Gerard Butler and haven't seen anything else he has done, he was awesome in that movie. I love ( no really have a huge crush ) Tom Hardy, love his body in Warrior, adore his physique as Bane and Bronson but you should see him in the BBC Wuthering Heights as Heathcliff or the short film Stuart A Life Backwards just as awesome.

Body or not you can either act or you can't.

 

I was a little bummed to read that Gerard Butler had refused to give up the booze and junk food, had a fight with the 300 trainer. Then refused to continue the intensive training and went and got lessons from another 'private trainer', which I read as 'started juicing and taking shortcuts'.

 

I've read a few articles that mention the 300 trainer, his gym sounds awesome. Completely zero bullshit.