What’s the big deal about gaining weight for a role? Angelina and Meg Ryan are next to pack on the pounds
Have you ever noticed how every time an actor or actress is asked to put on or shed a few pounds for a role, their weight fluctuation becomes the focal discussion point for the entire film? Somehow their body transformation overshadows even a potential Oscar winning movie! Sure, everyone knows LOSING weight is rough-though with the trainers, dieticians, personal chefs and multi-million dollar paycheck incentives, it might be easier than we think (except Christian Bale in The Machinist-his anorexic shell of a body is just plain scary!). As for gaining weight and getting paid for it, sign us up! Yeah, it must be sooo tough washing three donuts down with a milkshake and having pasta and pizza for dinner.
Angelina Jolie is the latest celeb to body morph-she's been asked to gain extra padding for The Thomas Crown Affair sequel, The Topkapi Affair. "Ideally they want Angelina to put on 28 pounds for the role," says an insider. "It is going to be very physically demanding, which is why they want her to carry the extra weight. They don't want a reprise of what happened with 'Wanted,' where she was fainting and they had to take her costumes in."
On the other hand, we have actors who must play heavier characters yet don't actually gain the weight. Does anyone remember when Gwyneth Paltrow strapped on a fat suit for Shallow Hal and talked about how enlightened she felt bring triple her natural size and how the movie really did yield a positive message? We have mixed feelings on that… and movie stills from Meg Ryan's latest straight-to-dvd piece of trash, My Mom's Hot Boyfriend, makes us feel similarly. Just like on Friends when Courteney Cox's Monica was picked on during her "fat years" but then fit in as a skinny adult. Maybe it's funny to laugh at for a minute, and then you get that weird guilty feeling.
What's your stance on putting on weight for a role? Do actors deserve props or is it just like taking on an accent or anything else you must do for a part?[Dlisted][Defamer]
