7 actors on the shocking toll losing weight for roles took on their bodies and minds

Paul Rudd went on such a restrictive diet while preparing to play Ant-Man that sparkling water was considered a reward, he said.

“That’s how horrible that diet was. I was like, ‘Ugh alright. I’m going to have some sparkling water now. I’ve earned it,'” Rudd said on the “Off Menu” podcast.

Rudd struggled with comparing himself to other Marvel actors such as “Thor” star Chris Hemsworth.

“I think I worked out harder than anyone, I would eat better than everyone, and I looked worse than all of them,” Rudd said. “I had to work out all the time, eat perfectly, just to look kind of bad. Not even great.”

In 2019, Nanjiani lost weight for his role in Marvel’s “Eternals” by cutting out carbs.

“You work out every day and you sort of learn to enjoy it, but the diet is the hardest thing,” Nanjiani said. “I have not had pizza or a donut in over a year. I’ve had no refined sugar in a year, I’ve had almost no carbs at all.”

But the process worsened his already negative body image and relationship with food.

“I’ve always had a weird relationship with food. I’ve always had guilt or regret associated with it. I’ve always used food as a punishment or as a reward,” he told NPR.

“I didn’t really start thinking about it or trying to come to terms with it until after I was done with ‘Eternals,’ because doing ‘Eternals’ brought a lot of those issues up to the surface. I realized after that that I thought about food in a specific kind of way that I needed to explore and revisit.”

Afterwards he forced himself to eat “unhealthy amounts of unhealthy food” to help him change his mindset, he said.

Speaking to Kelly Clarkson in 2022, Channing Tatum said he was reluctant to make a third “Magic Mike” movie because getting into shape for the role is so tough.

“It’s hard to look like that,” he said. “Even if you do work out, to be that kind of in shape is not natural. That’s not even healthy. You have to starve yourself. I don’t think when you’re that lean, it’s actually healthy… I don’t know how people who work a 9 to 5 actually stay in shape because it’s my full-time job, and I can barely do it.”

Brendan Fraser said he was so starved of carbohydrates for his eponymous role in “George of the Jungle” in 1997 that he forgot his bank PIN. 

“I was waxed. Starved of carbohydrates,” he said. “I would drive home after work and stop to get something to eat. I needed some cash one day, and I went to the ATM, and I couldn’t remember my PIN number because my brain was misfiring. Banging on the thing. I didn’t eat that night.”

Carbohydrates are essential for brain function, and brain fog can be a result of not consuming enough, dietitian Nichola Ludlam-Raine previously told Insider.