Major Movie-Role Body Transformations

Matt Damon: "Elysium"

He may be 42, but Matt Damon is currently in just as good shape as guys half his age … thanks to the fact getting ripped was a requirement for his starring role in the upcoming sci-fi action flick "Elysium." And, actually, despite the intense regimen it took to transform his body, Damon didn't mind having to put the extra work in. "I had to just literally go to the gym for, like, four hours a day," he told reporters at Comic-Con last year. "Which was kind of fun in its own way at my age, to be given an excuse to do that, because it's not something you'd ever really do otherwise!"

Halle Berry: "Catwoman"

Trainer Harley Pasternak had the opposite of his work cut out for him when it came to training the uber-fit Halle Berry for her role in the 2004 film "Catwoman." "I knew Berry would have to be elegant, sexy, strong — and elusive like a cat. But how was I going to take one of the best bodies in Hollywood and make it even better?" he wrote last in year in a People magazine blog. But there was one challenge: squeezing in her workouts during her lunch breaks on set. Pasternak created a non-stop cardio/resistance exercise circuit that allowed Berry, he says, "to do more in the least amount of time." Nine years later, the Oscar winner still looks like she's in Catwoman shape … even while 46 and pregnant!

Taylor Lautner: "Twilight"

To transform into Jacob the werewolf in the "Twilight" series of films (in which he's often shirtless), Taylor Lautner, 21, had to gain 30 pounds of muscle through intense workouts and a strict diet, which helped him really bulk up. "I was forcing myself to eat thick, heavy food every two hours," he told USA Today in 2011. "That was really tough for me. Three protein shakes a day. Ugh, I hate that thought."

Hilary Swank: "Million Dollar Baby"

Actress Hilary Swank had to put 20 pounds of muscle on her thin frame to play a boxer in the acclaimed 2005 film “Million Dollar Baby.” Her intense boxing workouts not only whipped her into sick shape, but also made her understand the allure of boxing better. "It's not like I didn't like boxing, I just didn't think about boxing. Then after training, and boxing two and a half hours a day, six days a week for three months became part of my training before I started filming, and, as I filmed I kept boxing … for probably five months, I learned that it's much more than anything physical," Swank, now 38, told Popentertainment.com in 2005. "Obviously the physical aspect of it is huge, but it is such an unbelievably mental sport."

Mickey Rourke: "The Wrestler"

Actor Mickey Rourke had an advantage when he took on the role of aging pro wrestler in 2008's "The Wrestler" when he was 56: He's a former boxer and spent decades bodybuilding to stay bulked up. "The bodybuilding, of course, helped, but what a lot of people don't know and understand is you can't look like the way I do in six months. I have been bodybuilding for 20 years and muscle has memory," Rourke told Bodybuilding.com in 2008. "It's just a matter of how big you want to get or how cut you want to get, and this all depends on the amount of cardio or the diet you are on. "At the time, Rourke followed a high-protein, low-carb diet that included three to four protein shakes a day and focused more than usual on cardio and abs work.

Natalie Portman: "Black Swan"

To get a dancer’s body for her Oscar-winning role as a ballerina in the 2010 psychological thriller "Black Swan," Natalie Portman entered into an training program led by former New York City Ballet dancer Mary Helen Bowers. And the program was no joke, requiring Portman, now 32, to train for up to eight hours a day, six days a week. "Ballerinas have obvious physical qualities like long, lean muscles and beautiful posture," Bowers later told Shape.com. "We wanted [Portman] to look the part, but we also wanted to make sure she was able to move and dance like a professional ballerina."

Hugh Jackman: "The Wolverine"

Hugh Jackman admits that his starring role as Wolverine in the "X-Men" superhero franchise is, well, kind of the reason he keeps his bod so buff. "If I weren't getting paid or didn't have a character like Wolverine to maintain, I would just be a tall, lean, fit guy," he told Men's Health in 2011. To prepare for the upcoming spin-off "The Wolverine," the 44-year-old had to focus on strength training ... and eating. "When you're bulking, you're just eating so much food. What I do is I eat in an eight hour period, it's all the rage this diet now," he said in a SiriusXM radio interview earlier this year. "For 16 hours of the day, I fast, so I don't eat. Between 10 in the morning and 6 o'clock at night … I eat 5,000 calories. And then I eat nothing." It’s not the only role he's had to transform for. He had to seriously slim down to skinny proportions for his role in 2012's "Les Miserable" and for the 2011 flick "Real Steel," Jackman, who played a former boxer who trains robots, spent a full year training for the role, which included intense sessions with boxing legend Sugar Ray Leonard.

Will Smith: "Ali"

To transform himself into legendary boxer Muhammad Ali for the 2001 biopic "Ali," Will Smith started training in February 2000 with Sugar Ray Leonard's long-time trainer Darrell Foster. Smith's daily routine included a three-mile morning run, boxing practice for a couple of hours, watching past Ali fights on film, and a weight room workout. Foster also put Smith, 31 at the time, on a high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet. "He was out of shape," Foster told Time in 2001. According to the magazine, Smith dropped 10 pounds at first, weighing in at 190, and then, after beefing up, he reached a buff 224 pounds.

Scarlett Johansson: "The Avengers"

To become the butt-kicking Black Widow in last year's action flick "The Avengers," the 28-year-old worked with trainer Bobby Strom to focus on 90-mintue high-intensity workouts full of explosive movements like platform jumping to increase cardio fitness and resistance band work to build muscle … but not too much muscle. "You want to see that definition in the biceps, triceps, and shoulders, but you don't want the muscles so big that she loses her femininity," Strom later told WebMD. "The studio didn't want her looking like Thor."

Seth Rogen: "The Green Hornet"

To help him look like superhero "The Green Hornet," celeb trainer Harley Pasternak worked with Seth Rogen — best known at the time for playing schlubby characters in Judd Apatow flicks like "Knocked Up" and "Superbad" — to whip him into shape. "We were making him a superhero," the trainer told omg! in 2011 after the film came out, "[taking] him from a doughy stoner to a svelte, handsome, fit superhero." Pasternak had the now-31-year-old actor on his Five-Factor program, which involves five short intense workouts per week along with three lean-protein-heavy meals and two snacks per day. Rogen shed 30 pounds.

Demi Moore: "GI Jane"

In order to transform herself into a member of the military's elite Navy SEALs for the 1997 film "G.I. Jane," a then-34-year-old Demi Moore worked with former SEAL Scott Helvenston, who put her through military training regimens to get her body fat percentage down even lower than it already was. Sadly, Helvenston was killed in 2004 in an ambush in Iraq while working for a security subcontractor.

Russell Crowe: "Cinderella Man"

To get star Russell Crowe into "fighting shape" for his role as Depression-era boxing champ James J. Braddock for the 2005 flick "Cinderella Man," director Ron Howard recruited legendary trainer Angelo Dundee (83 at the time!), who flew to Crowe's native Australia to spend a month with him. In addition to the boxing training, Crowe biked, swam, and ran on a daily basis under the trainer's tutelage. Dundee, who passed away last year at the age of 90, told Sports Illustrated in 2005 that during the three months the movie was shooting in Canada, then-40-year-old Crowe would work out for an hour each day before coming to the set and sparred on the side with a Canadian amateur boxer. "If I'd had Russell when he was a kid," Dundee said, "I coulda' made a real fighter out of him." If only! 

Culled from OMG

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By SAMOD BIOBAKU