Cillian Murphy and other actors who totally transformed their bodies for a movie

'Oppenheimer' co-stars Emily Blunt, Robert Downey Jr. reveal extreme lengths Cillian Murphy went for his role

Stars Insider

26/07/23 | StarsInsider

CELEBRITY Cinema

To get some movie parts, not only do you need to have talent and the ability to get into character, but you've also got to have a will strong enough to completely immerse yourself in your role—even if that means making impressive physical changes.

Cillian Murphy's 'Oppenheimer' co-stars have spoken up about his immense dedication to his role, with Robert Downey Jr. stating plainly, "I have never witnessed a greater sacrifice by a lead actor in my career." Beyond taking on such a massive, humbling, demanding role and learning "30,000 words of Dutch" on his days off while his co-stars enjoyed a three-day weekend, he was also sacrificing himself physically to the role. Emily Blunt, who plays his onscreen wife Kitty Oppenheimer, told Extra, "He had such a monumental undertaking. And he could only eat, like, an almond every day. He was so emaciated.”

In an interview with The New York Times, Murphy explained why it was important for him to lose the weight. “I love acting with my body, and Oppenheimer had a very distinct physicality and silhouette, which I wanted to get right," he said. "I had to lose quite a bit of weight, and we worked with the costume and tailoring; he was very slim, almost emaciated, existed on martinis and cigarettes. He had these really bright eyes and I wanted to give him this wide-eyed look, so we worked on his silhouette and expressions a lot before starting."  Murphy didn't disclose how much weight he lost because he didn't want it to grab attention, but he did address his diet in an interview with IndieWire and said, “I don’t advise it.”

Check out the gallery to see which other stars had to undergo drastic changes for movie roles.

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