Michael Fassbender is one of the most talented men working in film today, and during his time on the big screen, he has proven that he can improve any project that he takes part in. He is known for many roles, with Magneto in the X-Men franchise being perhaps his biggest one to date.
While preparing to make the film Hunger, Fassbender embarked on a weight loss journey that saw him take things to an extreme degree. He lost the weight, but the process to get there was insane.
Let’s take a look at how Michael Fassbender dropped 40 lbs. for a film.
He Had A Restrictive Diet
Losing a ridiculous amount of weight for a role is a road that few performers willingly go down, and it is important to seek professional advice before undergoing a major transformation for a role. Michael Fassbender opted to do things his way when he slimmed down for the film Hunger. This led to the actor employing a restrictive diet that was unhealthy, to say the least.
According to We Got This Covered, Fassbender utilized a diet that only permitted him to consume 900 calories per day, which is a laughably low number. Humans need to consume far more calories than this if they want to maintain their weight, and while a calorie deficit can be helpful in losing weight, there are a number of issues that can arise by keeping the number this low.
The site also reports that Fassbender’s diet primarily consisted of a can of sardines, nuts, and berries. Yeah, he kept things to a scary minimum here, and it was a huge reason why he was able to drop a staggering 40 lbs. for the role. Keep in mind that he only weighed 170 lbs. before dropping weight.
In order to get down to 130 lbs. for his role in Hunger, Fassbender needed to do more than just eat virtually nothing each day. He also needed to stay active, and a move to a California beach city helped him out on his road to starring in the film.
He Lived Near The Beach And Exercised Regularly
It’s hard to imagine that Michael Fassbender had any semblance of energy after eating only 900 calories per day, but he had enough to stay active after he relocated to Venice Beach, California. It was there that the actor focused on his weight loss and spent time being active on the beach.
According to Fassbender, “It was the perfect place because I was just another freak on the beach, power walking.”
Now, while he was cutting weight for the film, he ran into a minor issue. He eventually leveled out with his weight and was unable to cut any further. This occurred after 5 weeks into his 10-week weight cut, and his response to this was to restrict his calories even further. While he was on a time crunch to get down to 130 lbs., the toll that this took on his body must have been brutal.
Eventually, Fassbender was able to lose 40 lbs. in the span of 10 weeks, which doesn’t even seem humanly possible. After that was completed, he still needed to keep his weight down and film an entire movie!
Fassbender talked about the difficulty that came along with filming in the cold, saying, “I remember when I came back to Belfast in January I think it was, to finish off that section of the film, it was cold. And the cold on top of being hungry is pretty tough.”
The Film Was A Critical Success
Filming eventually wrapped, and Fassbender was able to put the weight back on in a short amount of time. Now, it was time to simply wait and see if all of his sacrifice and hard work was worth it.
Released back in 2008, Hunger may not have been a huge financial success, but this flick earned rave reviews and did wonders for both Michael Fassbender and director Steve McQueen. Sometimes a critical success can be just as rewarding as a financial one, and the work that went into bringing Hunger to life ultimately paid off in the way of critical acclaim.
Currently, the film is sporting a 90% over at Rotten Tomatoes, which just goes to show how well-received it was upon its release. Many critics considered it to be one of the best films of the entire year, and the film even won the Camera d’Or at Cannes Film Festival, which is presented for best first feature film.
Michael Fassbender took things to an extreme degree for Hunger, but the film’s critical acclaim made the juice worth the squeeze.