We're used to seeing celebs balloon and shrink to suit a movie role. Now Russell Crowe is the latest star to beef up -- the Aussie actor recently gained an astounding 63 lbs to star alongside Leonardo DiCaprio in Body of Lies, earning him a barrage of headlines proclaiming, 'From Hunk to Chunk!'

"I'll have the cheeseburger for breakfast, thank you," Crowe admitted in a recent interview talking about his weight gain. He also indulged in more than a few cupcakes. One diet no-no he didn't rely on to the pack on the pounds? Alcohol. "The drinking thing has sort of taken a different place in my life since I had kids. There's a whole lot of things I don't do anymore because it affects my level of patience. I don't want to be in that place where I'm exasperated with these beautiful children.

Too bad losing the weight is so difficult -- having cheeseburgers for breakfast sounds kind of fun, don't you think?

Source

Everyone knows it's more fun to gain weight than to lose it. And if you're getting paid big bucks to gain it, well, all the better. But there comes a time when the bagels and fried food have to be put away and the weight has to come back off.

That's what happened to Beyonce Knowles. She was asked to gain 20 pounds for her role as Etta James in Cadillac Dreams. But when shooting was finished, she was left not only with a paycheck, but with 20 pounds extra weight, which she had to lose for psychological thriller Obsessed. "I had to lose it," she said, "I was so angry with myself. I was like, 'D'oh! Why do you have to go through this?'"

Losing weight is such hard work. I've always wondered about celebrities who gain weight for roles. Matt Damon recently buried his fit figure under a layer of extra pounds for the movie The Informant, and Hillary Swank will put on 20 to 30 pounds (ironically) for the movie version of the book French Women Don't Get Fat. Not only is it hard mentally, I imagine, to get back into healthy habits after being out of them so long. But isn't all that yo-yoing hard on your body? Maybe not as hard as giving up a million-plus dollar role in a major motion picture, I guess. What do you think?

Source

A while back, we told you about the shock reaction to Oscar-winning actress Cate Blanchett's unhealthy, even frightening look. Aside from looking very thin, Cate looked pale and sickly.

But as the Daily Mail is reports, Cate is back to her old self, proudly showing off her slim but shapely figure in a full-bodied gown at the premiere of Elizabeth: The Golden Age. She blames her former drastic look on the movie I'm Not There, in which she plays a young Bob Dylan.

What do you think about this whole losing vast amounts of weight for a film role? Would you do it? Do you think it's healthy in the long run? Does the exorbitant salary that comes with starring a film make up for any healthy risks associated with yo-yoing weight?

Source