![london, england august 28 orlando bloom attends the london premiere of carnival row at the ham yard hotel on august 28, 2019 in london, england photo by david m benettdave benettwireimage](https://hips.hearstapps.com/hmg-prod/images/gettyimages-1164594408-1-642ee4c40fe78.jpg?resize=1200:* ""Carnival Row" - London Premiere - VIP Arrivals")
It seems like there are fewer and fewer roles in Hollywood that don't require an actor to go through some kind of drastic body transformation. That could mean bulking up to play a superhero, à la Chris Hemsworth or Henry Cavill, fattening up like Mark Wahlberg did for Father Stu or slimming down dangerously small as Christian Bale did for The Machinist.
Pirates of the Caribbean and Lord of the Rings star Orlando Bloom is about to take on his own transformation for a movie and has spoken to Men's Health UK about the considerations an actor has to make before putting themselves through one of these transformations.
Bloom, who was recently announced as chief wellness officer for protein brand Form Nutrition, will soon start filming The Cut. Described by Bloom as a ‘boxing movie without the boxing’, the movie follows the story of a boxer who comes out of retirement and, according to Deadline, is put ‘through a gruelling and unsanctioned weight-cut programme with a coach who knows no limits’.
The film touches on issues surrounding body dysmorphia and will require the 6ft and 180lbs Bloom to shed weight. He says the final look will be more akin to Conor McGregor in his featherweight days rather than Bale's The Machinist performance.
Still, these types of transformations aren't taken on lightly. The actor says you obviously do get ‘hangry’ when you're restricting your eating for a part like this. He also says that he has had to have conversations with his family to warn them about what's about to happen, and has been particularly concerned about the impact cutting weight will have on his 12-year-old son.
‘I've had to have some conversations,’ Bloom says. ‘I have a 12-year-old son and one of the things that I loved about the movie is that it does look at body dysmorphia. The thing is that with social media, we're all very focused on how we look, or we can be, so I've had a conversation with family, and certainly with my son, to explain that this is what I'm doing, it's part of the job, it's for a role and it will be for this period of time, so that he understands.
‘I think it's important, but I think for children and for young people they shouldn't be overly focused on how and what they're eating all the time because they're growing and it's important that they just enjoy the process of life and part of that is enjoying a good meal. I am very aware of what I'm stepping into in terms of the subject matter of this film.’
Bloom has already started preparing for the role and has already begun the process of getting into the correct shape for the part.
‘I'm having six meals and snacks, so I build little by little,’ says Bloom. ‘Basically, my trainer's theory is, you get the engine running, you start the metabolism and you keep it burning.’
‘My day goes breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner, snack, bed,’ he adds.
