How often do Actors/Actresses gain or lose weight for a role?

Alex Brightman had to gain weight (and maintain it) for School of Rock.

Andy Karl had to be very fit for Rocky, changing his daily fitness routine and being very physically active during the show as well.

Ramin Karimloo also got very in shape for his ValJean in Canada and Broadway, even though he wasn't required for the role, but he has said he was motivated by taking on such a big role on Broadway.

I think it's harder to do it in theater because you have to keep this figure for so long as opposed to a movie where once you're done filming you can go back to your normal self.

Bruce

michael cerveris has gained a lot of weight for Fun Home. Or at least, during the run he has, not sure if it has been for the role

Bruce in Matilda was definitely wearing a fat suit on tour, at least in Boston. It wasn't even subtle -- he doesn't wear it in all the scenes! He's not wearing it when they're in gym gear.

Alex Brightman has made it VERY clear that he was not required in any way to gain weight. He did it for personal reasons as an actor in a role, not contractually. That is why he hasn't re-gained any or maintained it since he lost it.

All Bruce's, no matter their real physical build, where fat suits for act 1 of Matilda.

Michael Crawford had to gain a lot of weight to play Count Fosco in the original London production of The Woman in White and this originated health issues to him.

I noticed MICHAEL CERVERIS' weight gain the second time I saw FUN HOME ... He looked slimmer the third time I saw it ... It suits the role ... He is oddly sexy to me ... My husband said he'd give me a "hall pass" for CERVERIS ... :)

RE: "how often", I think the obvious answer would be "as often as needed". In the case of Alex Brightman, my guess is that the weight gain was initially to make him look specifically more like Jack Black, but I don't believe the weight is essential to the character, and was kind of a cop-out to begin with. The fact that he can still be accepted as the character now, without the extra weight might bear that out.

I think there are plenty of costuming and make-up tricks that can make an actor appear heavier or thinner without having to gain or lose weight. I think, too that it's more often the case that it only really matters when an actor is required to appear in some state of undress. For example, I think the men and women in Mama Mia and American Psycho are/were probably more conscientious about going to the gym than they might normally be.

One case where I felt an actor made a 'wrong' choice regarding their physical appearance was a show I saw at The Bailiwick in Chicago, during their annual Pride series. The play was about an older man in a relationship with a much younger man, and the play required both actors to be nude in the second act. The actor playing the older man obviously spent some time at the gym to look good without his clothes. Unfortunately, his semi-buff appearance looked and seemed very unrealistic within the context of the characters. It fought against the character's (verbalized) insecurities about being with such a young man, and made the younger character's responses of acceptance seem less 'true' (because the older actor looked pretty darned good, and seemed physically appealing to any age).

Updated On: 7/26/16 at 11:21 AM