With the release of The Informant, Matt Damon will join the ranks of other illustrious celebs who’ve gained weight for movie roles. I have to admit, I get awfully jealous whenever I hear about stars getting paid to pack on the pounds. Here I am, eating bird food and sweating through spin class to keep my jeans from getting snug and they’re binging their way to box office and Oscar gold. But after seeing some of the diets they follow to fatten up—especially considering they have to eat this way for months at a time—suddenly a sensible salad doesn’t seem all that bad.
Matt Damon
Movie Role: Mark Whitacre, The Informant
Weight Gained: 30 pounds
Foods Consumed: In interviews, he’s listed dark beer, Doritos, and Mickey D’s Value Meals—eaten in between meals on the set—as part of his plump-up plan.
Jared Leto
Movie Role: Mark David Chapman, Chapter 27
Weight Gained: 60 pounds
Foods Consumed: To prepare himself for the movie, the usually-slim Leto gorged on entire large Domino’s pizzas for dinner. He also ate whole ice cream pints microwaved and mixed with olive oil and soy sauce.
Megan Fox
Movie Role: Mikaela Banes, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Weight Gained: 10 pounds
Foods Consumed: Deemed too skinny for the sequel by director Michael Bay, Fox was ordered to put on a few pounds. She did this by eating three meals a day (instead of the usual one … yeah, that’s right, one) and having red velvet cake at night.
Renee Zellweger
Movie Role: Bridget Jones, Bridget Jones’s Diary, Bridget Jones’s Diary: The Edge of Reason (and the upcoming third installment)
Weight Gained: About 30 pounds
Foods Consumed: Zellweger keeps mostly mum about what she ate to prep for both movies, but rumors run the gamut, with everything from pizza and chocolate to spirulina and flax oil shakes.
George Clooney
Movie Role: Bob Barnes, Syriana
Weight Gained: 35 pounds
Foods Consumed: Clooney reportedly noshed on donuts and chips and completely stopped exercising, which was hard for the naturally-active actor and made him depressed during filming.
Robert DeNiro
Movie Role: Jake La Motta, Raging Bull
Weight Gained: 60 pounds
Foods Consumed: He was the first actor to dramatically change his body for a role. According to director Martin Scorcese, production was halted for four months so DeNiro could eat huge plates of pasta and buttery delicacies at French restaurants.
Beyonce Knowles
Movie Role: Etta James, Cadillac Records
Weight Gained: Almost 15 pounds
Foods Consumed: To make her body match the curvier Etta James, Knowles reached for macaroni and cheese, fried chicken, and butter pecan ice cream.
Sylvester Stallone
Movie Role: Sheriff Freddy Heflin, Cop Land
Weight Gained: 40 pounds
Foods Consumed: Stallone became a daily diner at a local pancake restaurant known for its huge pancakes.
Russell Crowe
Movie Role: Ed Hoffman, Body of Lies
Weight Gained: 63 pounds
Foods Consumed: He ditched his Gladiator-tight bod and went doughy by eating cheeseburgers for breakfast and copious amounts of Sprinkles cupcakes.
Fergie (Stacy Ferguson)
Movie Role: Saraghina, Nine
Weight Gained: 13 pounds
Foods Consumed: Fergie said in an interview that she and costar Penelope Cruz ate “everything fried and full of fat and salty.” One of her favorite go-to dishes was fish and chips, specifically.
Charlize Theron
Movie Role: Aileen, Monster
Weight Gained: 28 pounds
Foods Consumed: Theron became completely unrecognizable in this role, partly due to noshing on Krispy Kreme donuts and potato chips.
Eating your weight in junk food might seem like a nice day job, but then these stars have to starve themselves and mega-exercise to get their trim figures back ASAP. And while stars like Charlize Theron and Robert DeNiro saw the fruits of their labors via critical acclaim and Oscar glory, poor Jared Leto’s increased poundage amounted to one big box office bomb. Given the choice, I’ll take weekend indulgences over months of yo-yo dieting. Besides, any money I’d make would just go toward bulk purchases of Tums to deal with the massive stomachaches giant pancakes and large pizzas would surely bring.