25 Cent

May 28, 2010 12:54 AM

Rapper and actor 50 Cent has slimmed down to 160 lbs. for his role in an upcoming film in which he plays a cancer patient. Here, a gallery of other actors who notably lost or gained weight for their craft.
posted by Tenacious.Me.Tokyo (72 comments total)

50%
posted by Auden at 12:55 AM on May 28, 2010 [34 favorites]

method man acting?
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 12:56 AM on May 28, 2010 [8 favorites]

It's Wall Street's fault that 50 cent doesn't amount to what it used to.

Color me impressed. That's some dedication. Now the question, can he act?
posted by three blind mice at 12:59 AM on May 28, 2010

...for his role in an upcoming film in which he plays a cancer patient Dave Chapelle.
posted by louche mustachio at 1:02 AM on May 28, 2010 [4 favorites]

Was the liquid diet all Vitamin Water? (Cause, I don't know how he lost weight on that stuff... it's got hella sugar)
posted by yeloson at 1:04 AM on May 28, 2010

I don't know if he can act, but he looks like he has probably gained some new mental powers.
posted by Auden at 1:09 AM on May 28, 2010 [5 favorites]

Get Thin or Die Starvin'
posted by Mikey-San at 1:22 AM on May 28, 2010 [11 favorites]

"Rapper and actor 50 Cent has slimmed down"

Well, at least we know who to turn to deal with inflationary pressures in US currency.
posted by MuffinMan at 1:33 AM on May 28, 2010 [1 favorite]

I LIKE PUNS
posted by The Esteemed Doctor Bunsen Honeydew at 1:34 AM on May 28, 2010 [9 favorites]

Okay, two things:

Link #1- I'm not well aquainted with Mr. Cent. A 'before' shot would be nice.
Link #2- Oh come on. You can't do a list like that without The Machinist.
posted by biddeford at 1:42 AM on May 28, 2010 [2 favorites]

the machinist is number 8 in the newsweek list?
posted by kev23f at 1:50 AM on May 28, 2010

@ biddeford
Re: Link #2, had you bothered to actually read the list you would have seen The Machinist at No. 8.
posted by Tenacious.Me.Tokyo at 1:50 AM on May 28, 2010 [1 favorite]

Ooops. He must have passed before my eyes like a wisp.
posted by biddeford at 1:55 AM on May 28, 2010 [2 favorites]

Female celebrities take roles as characters who don't wear makeup to try and achieve credibility as actors. Male celebrities gain or lose weight.

TV movie at 11.
posted by fire&wings at 2:10 AM on May 28, 2010 [7 favorites]

He lost a pound of weight a day? IANAD, but can't that wreck a little long term havoc with his.. well.. body? That's what always scares me about this "Gained X, Lost X" actor stories..
posted by cavalier at 2:26 AM on May 28, 2010

If you're logged out, the displayed ad is for Jillian Michael's asking "How big is your weight loss goal".
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 2:37 AM on May 28, 2010 [1 favorite]

Celebrities blessed with good health and resources and choose to wreak havoc on their health and well-being for an acting role (assuming this sort of weight loss has been bad for him physically). I wonder what kind of damage this sort of weight loss has caused. Look at the size of his head compared to his body.

I can see how it's noble of him to portray a person stricken with cancer, but I'd be curious to know what patients with cancer or other illnesses think of a healthy person causing potential long term damage to their health to play a role. I'd think it was like dumping food out in front of starving people.
posted by anniecat at 2:42 AM on May 28, 2010

I wonder what kind of damage this sort of weight loss has caused. [...] I can see how it's noble of him to portray a person stricken with cancer, but I'd be curious to know what patients with cancer or other illnesses think of a healthy person causing potential long term damage to their health to play a role. I'd think it was like dumping food out in front of starving people.

My thoughts exactly. It seems bizarre to destroy your body like this -- even though I realize it isn't any different from what professional athletes (especially NFL players) do to themselves.

The harsh reality of this is that 50 is just not a good actor. No amount of self emaciation is going to make up for that fact.
posted by spiderskull at 2:55 AM on May 28, 2010 [1 favorite]

The counterexample, allegedly, is Steve McQueen. He apparently didn't lose nearly enough weight during filming for Papillon, a fact which was disguised by putting him in clothes that were tailored to be too big for him.
posted by MuffinMan at 3:01 AM on May 28, 2010 [1 favorite]

It's easy to lose a lb a day. Unfortunately, the first step is to stop your heart from beating.
posted by DU at 3:01 AM on May 28, 2010

Holy crap. He's shooting that in my town, and I just saw him down the street four weeks ago, fleshy as he's always been. Good freakin' job Curtis.
posted by scrowdid at 3:04 AM on May 28, 2010

If you can't act for shit, shit to act.
posted by biffa at 3:47 AM on May 28, 2010 [1 favorite]

I'm kind of shocked by the weakness of the FPP itself and the commentary here. He did this for a friend, and any and all talent or lack thereof aside, this is pretty damn admirable.

The flick [Things Fall Apart] was inspired by a friend of 50’s who actually died from the disease. 50 is credited as the film’s writer as well.

via an almost-as-sparse ONTD post.
posted by june made him a gemini at 4:06 AM on May 28, 2010 [1 favorite]

Rapper and actor 50 Cent has slimmed down to 160 lbs. for his role in an upcoming film in which he plays a cancer patient. Voldemort!
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 4:41 AM on May 28, 2010

Diet Pepsi Blue
posted by applemeat at 5:08 AM on May 28, 2010

is that really him? where are his tattoos?
posted by jammy at 5:19 AM on May 28, 2010

Renee Zellweger said her body ‘went all out of whack’ to go from a size 6 to size 14.

At the time of the first Bridget Jones movie, I read that Zellweger said she gained twenty pounds. Twenty pounds will not make a four size difference in a woman's body. More like one or two sizes at the most.
posted by orange swan at 5:38 AM on May 28, 2010

newsweek must have thrown this together in a hurry. i've seen better before and after pics in hairplug ads. also it's d'nofrio not d'ornfrio
posted by kitchenrat at 5:57 AM on May 28, 2010

While I certainly am amazed by people like Bale who went from Machinist to Batman... That's pretty fucked for your body.

Mind you, when Bale's Termator 3 breakdown rant appeared on the Internet, I was confused as to why people were criticizing him. I mean come on, he's obviously not human, let's not judge him by human standards.
posted by Theta States at 6:26 AM on May 28, 2010 [1 favorite]

Renee Zellweger said her body ‘went all out of whack’ to go from a size 6 to size 14.

I like that it's uncouth to mention how much weight a woman actually gained or what her normal weight is, but this is not uncouth for any of the men.
posted by shakespeherian at 6:29 AM on May 28, 2010 [1 favorite]

He did this for a friend, and any and all talent or lack thereof aside, this is pretty damn admirable.

There are other ways of memorializing someone that don't involve risking one's own health or chowing down on bucketloads of national attention.
posted by hermitosis at 6:38 AM on May 28, 2010

While I certainly am amazed by people like Bale who went from Machinist to Batman... That's pretty fucked for your body.

Well, 'roids and HGH will let you do that. And they'll also make you prone to rage-fueled outbursts too.
posted by electroboy at 6:41 AM on May 28, 2010

There is a gender divide when it comes to stating one's weight. In my experience, men will readily tell people what they weigh, even if they are overweight, whereas a woman won't. Or she'll lie. (As my mother likes to say, a woman who will tell you her weight or her age will tell you anything.) Consequently, men are usually not at all good at estimating a woman's weight. I know what my dad and three brothers and nephew and every guy I've ever gone out with all weigh, and so I have a frame of reference and can make a pretty shrewd guess as to a man's weight and not be off by more than 5 pounds. Men who have tried to guess my weight are always about 25 pounds below the mark. I do dislike the way they tend to think 140 pounds is fat because several reasonably trim women who weigh 140 or above have lied to them and said they were 125. However, it's not really their fault, poor oblivious dears.
posted by orange swan at 6:48 AM on May 28, 2010 [4 favorites]

It's called the Gitmo diet, y'all.
posted by Sys Rq at 6:52 AM on May 28, 2010

Consequently, men are usually not at all good at estimating a woman's weight.

There's pretty strong social conditioning towards men to never overestimate a woman's weight. I'd say 25-30 lbs is about exactly how much most men would purposely underestimate a woman's weight if they had to guess.
posted by electroboy at 6:56 AM on May 28, 2010 [9 favorites]

I kind of like the doughier Matt Damon.
posted by dog food sugar at 6:57 AM on May 28, 2010

Consequently, men are usually not at all good at estimating a woman's weight.

A few years ago, I was pretty much completely broke and did not budget very well. Consequently, I dropped down to about ~120 lbs. (I've got a small frame and about 5'7"-ish, so this wasn't starvation, but I did get referred to as "the skinny guy" a lot.) One day, hanging around with people before classes, a girl mentioned that she weighed 120 lbs. I said "hey, that's how much I weigh too!" Her face sank. Seriously, she looked hurt. A few weeks later I friended her on MySpace (LA was slow to Facebook) to get a homework assignment off her. That's when I saw all the subtle-enough-not-to-arouse-suspicion "nothing tastes as good as thin feels" JPGs plastered on her page, and realized I may very well have triggered her. To this day I'm still wary about discussing weight with anyone.
posted by griphus at 7:04 AM on May 28, 2010 [7 favorites]

If I had to single out of the actors in that slideshow who should most regret their decision it's Jared Leto. Gaining that extra weight made him look more like Mark David Chapman, sure, but his performance was absolutely atrocious. "Chapter 27" was pretty much a one man show and to be honest I turned it off about 2/3 of the way through solely because Leto's acting was just that grating.
posted by squeakyfromme at 7:39 AM on May 28, 2010

It's easy to lose a lb a day. Unfortunately, the first step is to stop your heart from beating.

I think Fitty will be just fine. What you rarely hear, but what is absolutely, completely true, is that large, muscular, active men can lose around a pound a day of weight down to around only 5% body fat and remain healthy. The "you can only safely lose 1-2 pounds a week without screwing up your metabolism" line you hear so often in diet advice is extremely conservative to account for petite, older, sedentary women attempting to lose weight.

There are two main risks in dieting: not getting the basic level of macro nutrients, vitamins and minerals your body needs to function without destroying itself instead of burning fat, and not being able to maintain muscle mass. An anorexic's diet may consist of nearly no macro nutrients whatsoever, and with insufficient protein, the body will begin using vital organs for energy, hastening the end. A healthy man's extreme diet would contain a tiny bit of fat, a tiny bit of carbohydrates, and a whole lot of protein, vitamins and minerals, so that the body can maintain both vital organs and muscle mass -- which can add up to only around 700 calories a day. There are liquid protein formulas, some prescription only, which make this easy.

A large, active man may well expend 4000 calories a day. The trick is to remain active with such a low calorie intake; while it'd be difficult or dangerous to do intense exercise, in the article, it says Fitty was walking the treadmill. So, if a large man can stay active, take in enough protein to maintain existing muscle mass, and keep calorie levels at 700 "bare necessities" calories a day while their body needs 4000 calories, they'll lose a whole lot of fat really quickly with minimal impact on the rest of their body. Sure, they will lose some lean body mass -- it's hard not to -- but not enough to impact health, and not enough that they wouldn't be able to get back to where they were with refeeding and training.

Our bodies are designed to adapt. There are certainly lots of terrible things you can do to your body, but with careful planning, dedication, work, and help from a doctor, you can make some pretty extreme changes without actually hurting yourself.
posted by I EAT TAPAS at 7:46 AM on May 28, 2010 [2 favorites]

As an actor, I'd just like to say...

Look, I'm a size 12/14! We can start shooting right away! Why hire Renee Zellweger when you've got what you need right here! Come and get it, Hollywood!

Seriously, it does bother me when someone like Charlize Theron gets the part of an ugly person and then undergoes hours in the makeup chair to pull it off. She was good, but there are some naturally plain actresses out there who would've been just as good or better.

Of course, most homely or overweight actresses can't get an agent, so there you go.
posted by Evangeline at 7:49 AM on May 28, 2010 [10 favorites]

kitchenrat: "newsweek must have thrown this together in a hurry. i've seen better before and after pics in hairplug ads. also it's d'nofrio not d'ornfrio"

Actually, it's D'Onofrio.

anniecat: "I can see how it's noble of him to portray a person stricken with cancer, but I'd be curious to know what patients with cancer or other illnesses think of a healthy person causing potential long term damage to their health to play a role. I'd think it was like dumping food out in front of starving people."

Is the alternative that perfectly healthy looking people ought play the role of very ill people? I can imagine that the response then becomes, "Hollywood is sugarcoating it! That's not what [heroin addiction/cancer/anorexia/obesity] really looks like. Let Americans see the grim reality of our daily existence!"

Ad nauseam.

I mean, I don't know which path is more ethical, I'm just saying that I can envision a "damned if you do" outcome.
posted by pineapple at 7:55 AM on May 28, 2010

Would this be a good time to ask why Jake Gyllenhaal is playing a Persian?
posted by shakespeherian at 8:03 AM on May 28, 2010 [18 favorites]

I guess this means he won't be taking you to the Candy Shop.
posted by nowoutside at 8:03 AM on May 28, 2010 [2 favorites]

I can see how it's noble of him to portray a person stricken with cancer, but I'd be curious to know what patients with cancer or other illnesses think of a healthy person causing potential long term damage to their health to play a role. I'd think it was like dumping food out in front of starving people.

I disagree re: the starving people point. They're not giving themselves cancer, developing junk habits, etc. etc. They're professionals practicing very extreme methods of acting. It is slightly, although not entirely, analogous to doing one's own stunts. What are the other options here? Celebrities, especially famous actors, tend to be healthier than the average Joe. They have dietitians and nutritionists and personal trainers worth a damn. Like Pineapple says, who would want to see the very-fit 50 Cent play a cancer patient? It wouldn't make sense. As far as long-term damage, I'm pretty sure he's got enough people monitoring his progress that if he is in danger, it's fully consensual. Having actually sick people play sick people is a whole load of other problems. Late-stage cancer patients pretty much lay in bed and suffer, so there's not going to be a cinema verite movement w/r/t illness any time soon. Just like any other sort of acting: action, romance, deep psychological terror, what one respects most in an actor is their ability to adapt to a role. I don't think that getting cancer would greatly change a person's viewpoint about seeing their illness portrayed in a film away from the stylized realism the rest of us expect.
posted by griphus at 8:07 AM on May 28, 2010

Men make themselves ugly from a societal perspective like this, and women make themselves ugly from a societal perspective like this, amirite?
posted by davejay at 8:16 AM on May 28, 2010

There's pretty strong social conditioning towards men to never overestimate a woman's weight. I'd say 25-30 lbs is about exactly how much most men would purposely underestimate a woman's weight if they had to guess.

Yeah, the penalty for over-guessing is an unhappy, disappointed person, but if we under-guess, we get a happy person, whether we're talking about weight or age. The corollary for men, I suppose, is having a person assume we're more important at our jobs than we really are, or penis size, or our incomes.

obviously I am generalizing here
posted by davejay at 8:20 AM on May 28, 2010

De Niro also did it for the Untouchables, but I also heard he had to pillow-stuff because he didn't have enough time.
posted by Pax at 8:22 AM on May 28, 2010

In before Human Centipede Diet joke.

wait...
posted by Mister_A at 8:28 AM on May 28, 2010

I put on some weight for my role as "aging hipster."
posted by Mister_A at 8:33 AM on May 28, 2010 [7 favorites]

I've been told that I bear an uncannily resemblance to the skinny, sleep deprived Bale in The Machinist. I'm still not certain as to whether or not this was a compliment or an indictment of my appearance.
posted by quin at 8:35 AM on May 28, 2010

Why hire Renee Zellweger when you've got what you need right here! Come and get it, Hollywood!

Seriously, it does bother me when someone like Charlize Theron gets the part of an ugly person and then undergoes hours in the makeup chair to pull it off. She was good, but there are some naturally plain actresses out there who would've been just as good or better.

Then how do you sell the film?

It's called show business for a reason.
posted by L'OM at 8:36 AM on May 28, 2010

It's odd that Christian Bale gets a lot of attention for losing weight only for The Machinist. He went almost skeletal as well for Rescue Dawn, but I never see it mentioned.
posted by oneironaut at 8:47 AM on May 28, 2010

Then how do you sell the film?

It's called show business for a reason.

Yeah, I was being facetious there. I'm not that stupid.

But still, it does piss me off a little that people go to see films like "Monster" not so much because of the quality of the film, but because "Hey, look, Charlize Theron made herself ugly!" Transforming yourself physically or playing a character with a mental or physical disability is also a short route to an Oscar nomination (so long as you don't go "full retard").
posted by Evangeline at 9:13 AM on May 28, 2010 [1 favorite]

One day, hanging around with people before classes, a girl mentioned that she weighed 120 lbs. I said "hey, that's how much I weigh too!" Her face sank.

I find the idea of certain weights/sizes arbitrarily being called fat a bit distressing. I'm a 5ft 10 woman with a big bust and big feet, and next to an average size woman I occasionally feel like I've been zapped with a growth ray. I've been taller and have had bigger feet than most men I've been out with, and if I told you how much I weigh, it sounds like an awful lot - I've been underweight at 11st 5 when many women feel that nine stone is a huge amount. I started avoiding women's magazines because I started to wonder whether there was something wrong with me for wanting to drop to an ideal weight
(for me) of 14st, and began to feel quite alienated from my body.
posted by mippy at 9:17 AM on May 28, 2010 [2 favorites]

dieting ≠ acting
posted by nathancaswell at 9:31 AM on May 28, 2010

I'm going to speak for the Homosexual Fans Of Seth Rogan out there (yes, all 10 of us).

Hi Seth. Yeah it's awesome you get to be the Green Hornet and be an action star and wear spandex. We love it, really, but seriously, could you eat a fucking sandwich now and again? You're scaring us. You are our chunky stoner champion! We do not approve of this learn you and if you keep this up we'll be forced to go to your house with a bag of Jax and some sour diesel and make you look normal again.

Love,

-TW
posted by The Whelk at 10:19 AM on May 28, 2010 [2 favorites]

I put on some weight for my role as "aging hipster."

Hey, I've been on that diet for the last five years or so as well!

Erm, yeah.
posted by jokeefe at 10:47 AM on May 28, 2010

Every time I forget about the Green Hornet movie I have to look it up again and go 'Oh yeah! Michele Gondry! Christoph Waltz! Tom Wilkinson! Danny Elfman! I'm really excited about this!' and then five minutes later I forget again.
posted by shakespeherian at 10:51 AM on May 28, 2010 [1 favorite]

Speaking of weight loss, Forest Whitaker is pretty much unrecognizable these days.
posted by deadmessenger at 11:19 AM on May 28, 2010 [2 favorites]

At the time of the first Bridget Jones movie, I read that Zellweger said she gained twenty pounds. Twenty pounds will not make a four size difference in a woman's body. More like one or two sizes at the most.

Sure it will. I just lost 48 lbs (so far, 2 to go) and went from a omg-these-are-too-tight size 14 to a size 4. Those last 8 lbs got me from a 6 to a 4.

How are we counting sizes? Is a 6 to a 4 one size, or two? There's rarely ever a size 5.
posted by cgg at 11:20 AM on May 28, 2010

OMGWTF Forest?
posted by Mister_A at 11:32 AM on May 28, 2010 [1 favorite]

Ack, what did Ke$ha do to Forest???
posted by Theta States at 11:52 AM on May 28, 2010

We love it, really, but seriously, could you eat a fucking sandwich now and again?

I saw a promo he did (Zack and Miri?) where Kevin Smith was interviewing him and Kevin asked Seth how he lost the weight for the role of Green Hornet. His reply was a shrug and "I ate good and worked out. I wish I had some secret for you but that was it."
posted by P.o.B. at 12:25 PM on May 28, 2010 [1 favorite]

Ack, what did Ke$ha do to Forest???

Keisha Nash is not Ke$ha.
posted by cashman at 12:43 PM on May 28, 2010

I saw a promo he did (Zack and Miri?) where Kevin Smith was interviewing him and Kevin asked Seth how he lost the weight for the role of Green Hornet. His reply was a shrug and "I ate good and worked out. I wish I had some secret for you but that was it."

This works for men in their early 20s who've been mostly or entirely sedentary all their lives, which I am sure applied to Seth. I know it worked for me when I was in college- access to a gym not populated by jock dickheads (I went to Reed, the most anti-jock college on the planet) and a meal plan that didn't allow me to stuff my face with Nacho Cheese Doritos and Dr Pepper as I'd done my entire adolescence made my "freshman 15" a "freshman minus 30."

But Seth- you're not going to young forever. Don't think you can follow Kevin Smith and smoke the pounds away, because Kevin Smith is a huge smoking fatass.
posted by ethnomethodologist at 1:40 PM on May 28, 2010 [1 favorite]

I prefer my Seth smoking hot fatass flavored.
posted by The Whelk at 2:02 PM on May 28, 2010 [1 favorite]

I EAT TAPAS: "What you rarely hear, but what is absolutely, completely true, is that large, muscular, active men can lose around a pound a day of weight down to around only 5% body fat and remain healthy. "

Mr. Corpse runs about 14 miles to to work most weekdays. It's not unusual for him to lose more than 10 lbs from Monday to Friday, and regain it by Sunday evening. I think it's water; he thinks its his liver turning to foie gras over the weekend.
posted by The corpse in the library at 2:32 PM on May 28, 2010

He lost a lot of weight but he looks about 5'10" or so, and that's still within a health bmi range.
posted by bonobothegreat at 2:47 PM on May 28, 2010

Oh my god, I just googled "Seth Rogen weight loss" for pics . . . DO NOT WANT!
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 4:07 PM on May 28, 2010

50%
posted by Auden at 3:55 AM on May 28

then that would make him 25 Cent, actually
posted by liza at 6:07 PM on May 28, 2010

Christian Slater must be unique in that he lost all that weight for The Machinist, but also got totally ripped for American Psycho.
posted by anothermug at 3:02 PM on May 29, 2010

Er, Christian Bale.
posted by anothermug at 3:03 PM on May 29, 2010