Posted on Wednesday, 14 May 2008

danhacker: I just remembered the Christian Bale film, ‘The Machinist’ and how emaciated he got for that role. So gross. I’ve yet to see this movie, and I am a huge Bale fan. It reminded me of this story via Wikipedia about Matt Damon when he was working on the firm Courage Under Fire… “In order to lose 40 pounds (18 kilograms) for the later scenes, Matt Damon went on a strict regimen of food deprivation and physical training. While on Inside The Actor’s Studio Damon said that the regiment consisted of six and a half miles of running in the morning and another six and half at night, a diet of chicken breast, egg whites, and one plain baked potato per day, and a large amount of coffee and cigarettes. This damaged his health to the extent that he had to have medical supervision for several months afterwards. However, his efforts did not go unnoticed; director Francis Ford Coppola was so impressed by Damon’s dedication to method acting that he offered him the leading role in The Rainmaker (1997). Steven Spielberg was also impressed by his performance, but thought he was too skinny and discounted him from casting considerations for Saving Private Ryan until he met Damon during the filming of Good Will Hunting when he was back at his normal weight.”

danhacker:

I just remembered the Christian Bale film, ‘The Machinist’ and how emaciated he got for that role. So gross.

I’ve yet to see this movie, and I am a huge Bale fan. It reminded me of this story via Wikipedia about Matt Damon when he was working on the firm Courage Under Fire…

“In order to lose 40 pounds (18 kilograms) for the later scenes, Matt Damon went on a strict regimen of food deprivation and physical training. While on Inside The Actor’s Studio Damon said that the regiment consisted of six and a half miles of running in the morning and another six and half at night, a diet of chicken breast, egg whites, and one plain baked potato per day, and a large amount of coffee and cigarettes. This damaged his health to the extent that he had to have medical supervision for several months afterwards. However, his efforts did not go unnoticed; director Francis Ford Coppola was so impressed by Damon’s dedication to method acting that he offered him the leading role in The Rainmaker (1997). Steven Spielberg was also impressed by his performance, but thought he was too skinny and discounted him from casting considerations for Saving Private Ryan until he met Damon during the filming of Good Will Hunting when he was back at his normal weight.”