Last year’s Atomic Blonde was a great film for Charlize Theron. While I didn’t care too much for the movie itself, I did love the idea of having a kickass female spy, and Theron herself did a great job of playing the part. Sure, the action itself can be credited to many folks, including the director and choreographer, but Theron was in amazing shape for it — had she not been, I wouldn’t have been able to buy a lot of what happened in the film.

Apparently, in order to do the film, she had to get into the best shape of her life, which is understandable. What is a bit crazy, though, is her upcoming film, Tully. If you’ve seen the trailer for the movie, you may have noticed that Theron had to put on some weight in order to play an overweight mother and wife.

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When I saw her in the trailer, I was amazed at how different she looked — and it wasn’t just some extra weight that could be explained away with a body suit. Speaking at the San Francisco Film Festival, Theron revealed that immediately after doing Blonde, she had to gain 50 pounds in order to play the role without prosthetics. Her goal was to give an accurate representation of an overworked mother with little time, money, or energy. To get to her new weight, she binged on burgers and sugar.

“I wanted to feel like I was the character, I’m in her body. I never dealt with depression my entire life, but eating as much sugar and processed food, I started losing my mind. I was so depressed, I couldn’t sleep. I’m not a method actor, and all of sudden I became one.”

While I’ve yet to see Tully, I do get that depressed and exhausted feeling from her performance. Looks to me like all the binging paid off!

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SOURCE: IndieWire