MilliOnAir Magazine Dec 2018 - Jan 2019 | Page 195

a perfectly normal weight and I've never understood why it matters so much. No male actor would
get such scrutiny if he did the same thing for a role”.

There can also be medical issues. While reducing his weight to a little over seven stone for the
dark drama The Machinist, Christian Bale was told by doctors that he was in dangerous territory
and had to change his drastic diet. It hasn’t stopped him though. He is about to reveal another
breathtaking make-under just in time for the Oscars, playing the balding and overweight former
US vice president Dick Cheney in Vice.

And it’s more than just a novelty. Actors are always keen to point out that, radical transformation
or not, the character still has to come from the inside. "It wasn't about getting fat” Theron said
about her role in Monster. “It was about getting to a place where I felt closer to how Aileen was
living."

Whilst this commitment arguably began with ‘Method’ actors such as Marlon Brando and Robert
De Niro studying under tutor Lee Strasberg in 50s and 60s New York (and who reached their peak
with their award-winning, bloated appearances in The Godfather and Raging Bull respectively),
the appeal of an extreme transformation is stronger than ever, especially for women. “It was such
a fantastic role to be given at this stage of my life because I get to dig into a place I’ve never gone
before” Kidman explains. After high-maintenance looks in projects as varied as Moulin Rouge,
Paddington and TV’s Big Little Lies, being released from the pressure to look perfect is an obvious
attraction.

And as Zellweger goes to great lengths for her next role as drug-ravaged singer Judy Garland,
whilst Michelle Williams similarly dresses down for her upcoming turn as tragic rocker Janis
Joplin, it seems that the race for the 2020 awards season has already begun.

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