Beefing Up: 10 Actors Who Underwent Remarkable Physical Transformations For Their Roles

Matt Damon For Courage Under Fire

Matt Damon has had many memorable films come out, most of which moviegoers are well familiar with. But, it isn’t his iconic roles as Will Hunting or Jason Bourne that landed him on this list, rather it was his part in the 1996 film Courage Under Fire.

Damon has looked extremely fit in many roles (Jason Bourne’s bulging biceps were certainly the envy of many wannabe secret agents), but in his younger days, the actor dropped down to 110 pounds to play heroin-addicted Ilorio.

To lose the weight Damon adopted an extremely strict diet. For months he only ate chicken, egg whites, steamed broccoli, and plain baked potatoes. To further his weight loss he also ran 13 miles a day: 6.5 in the morning and 6.5 in the afternoon. By the time filming began, Damon had dropped over 40 pounds.

His loss did not come without health problems, though. After the movie, a doctor found that the stress of the extreme weight loss had caused his adrenal gland to shrink, leading to years of medication for Damon before his metabolism was back to normal. All those problems for a mere two days of filming.

Damon has since acknowledged that he went too far for the role, telling Starpulse:

“I went too far. I got sick and I wouldn’t do that again because it was just too much. At the same time it helped the performance. I didn’t have to act at all – I was a wreck. I was getting dizzy spells and hot flashes. I didn’t say anything to anyone for a while because I was afraid I might be really ill.”

He may have risked his health, but it certainly paid off. His dedication and performance helped him land the lead in the 1997 film The Rainmaker, which is considered by many to be the actor’s breakout role.

Twelve years later Damon transformed for another role, but instead of slimming down, he packed on the pounds to play the lead in Steven Soderberg’s film The Informant!

Damon gained over 30 pounds through a diet of Pizza, In-N-Out burgers, and beer. Sounds a lot more enjoyable than steamed broccoli, but Damon said the diet and lack of exercise really started to wear on him. Thankfully for him, he didn’t start preparing for the role until after winning People Magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive. The results of the voting may have been different had they seen the picture above.