Question: What do these eight people have in common, besides super stardom and an abundance of cash?

• Charlize Theron
• Christian Bale
• Sylvester Stallone
• Renee Zellweger
• Hilary Swank
• Will Smith
• Matt Damon
• Adrien Brody
  

Answer: They've all done a number on their bodies in the name of art and employment. Some went way skinny -- Adrien Brody in The Pianist, Matt Damon in Courage Under Fire, and Christian Bale, who literally starved himself in order to look like a skeleton, in The Machinist. Others packed on some pounds -- Charlize Theron in Monster, Renee Zellweger in her Bridget Jones's Diary movies, and Sylvester Stallone in Copland. Hilary Swank and Will Smith got fit for their respective boxing movies -- Million Dollar Baby and Ali.

Not exactly healthy how some of these folks transformed their bodies. I mean, Theron ate Krispy Kreme donuts and gave up exercise altogether. But some did the best they could with the challenge that faced them. Zellweger says she consulted a physician who gave her a helpful weight-gain plan. She ended up eating bigger and richer portions of food. Croissants with butter were a welcome addition to her usual streamlined eating regimen. And Swank worked her butt off to beef up, training up to four and a half hours a day, six days a week for three months and following a really strict diet.

For more on how these eight gained, lost, and firmed up, check out this Parade magazine slide show, complete with before and after photos. And tell us: If you could score super stardom and an abundance of cash, would you do what these eight did?