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From Boys to Men: Ten actors who beefed up to break out.
*Note: This post originally ran on June 27th, 2008 In the insane action epic Wanted, Scottish actor James McAvoy played an everyman who's given the chance to become an action hero.
From the pic above, it's obvious that James isn't an everyman, but a buff He-God. It's a far cry from how we first remember him, as Mr. Tumnus, the faun, in The Chronicles of Narnia:
Lots of actors try image changes in their career, but one of the toughest to pull off must be when actors try to break out of the "boyish, sensitive" mold and transform themselves into bad boys or kick-ass superheroes. Here are a few more examples of actors who went (with varying degrees of success) from wimp ... to pimp. (I know that was horrible, but it rhymed.) Tobey Maguire
When the sensitive lad from The Ice Storm, The Cider House Rules, and Pleasantville was cast in the long awaited big screen version of Spider-Man, people scoffed at the idea ... until they saw him shirtless in the movie. I clearly remember the audible gasps in the theater when he stood in front of the mirror, and the jealous straight guy in front of me who turned to his girlfriend and whispered, "It must be CGI." Ben Foster
I knew Ben primarily from when he was a kid on the tv show Flash Forward, and as that creepy guy on Six Feet Under, so I was not prepared for it when he spread his wings in X-Men:The Last Stand. Unfortunately, he was only in the movie for literally five minutes (rip-off!), because I would have loved to have seen him really spread them wide. See more transformations after the break! Shia LaBeouf
I know that Shia is the new "it" guy, and everyone's captivated by his transformation from teen star to leading man, but I just can't get into it. When I look at him, all I see is that dorky kid from Even Stevens terrorizing Walgreens employees. Orlando Bloom
After playing the elf prince Legolas in The Lord Of The Rings, Orlando decided to branch out. His turn in Pirates of the Caribbean got mixed reviews, but when he tried to do a full fledged medieval action hero in Kingdom of Heaven, he was torn apart by critics, who said he just didn't have what it takes. Leonardo Dicaprio
Leonardo is the epitome of the sensitive-guy-turned-buff-tough-guy. Who would've guessed that the kid from Growing Pains would go on to star as every teen girls' dream in the biggest grossing movie of all time, Titanic, then carve out another career for himself as a movie tough guy in movies like The Departed? Ryan Reynolds
It's hard to believe the goofball from that pizza sitcom would turn out to have a successful and diverse career in films. He beefed up splendidly for Blade: Trinity, and kept it for the remake of The Amityville Horror (and the only thing I remember about that film is Ryan chopping wood ... so vigorously). Will Smith
Could this be the same lanky, gawky rap star from the late 80's? Arguably the biggest box office star in the world, Will beefed up big time for I Am Legend. We'll say you are! Chad Allen
Maybe it's just me, but i don't recall Chad ever being as buff as he was in Third Man Out ... but then he didn't get much of a chance to show off his body on Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman. Robert Downey, Jr.
And finally, no one has done more to change his image lately than Robert. The wonderfully talented, and unfortunately occasionally troubled, actor beefed up for his role as Tony Stark in the mega-hit Iron Man, and gave birth to a film franchise. So who'd we miss? Any guys who you remember turning your head after he transformed himself from zero to hero? Submitted by on Fri, 2008-06-27 15:19. |
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The two
I immediately thought of are former 80s geeks Patrick Dempsey
and Anthony Michael Hall.
These two are due less to buffing up and more to the wonders of the aging process, however.
Hey, man...
...you're TOTALLY right! Just the other day my sister and I were talking about how UNBELIEVABLE Patrick Dempsey's transformation has been. He looks SO GOOD now he's over 40! And don't even get me started on Anthony Michael Hall...
Best,
J.
"I walk with dignity. I step with pride."
Before
Personal taste evolution
I'm a girl (even at my advanced age) and I'll share something: my taste in men has definitely changed with age. Mr. Tumnus-James McAvoy would have appealed to high school me, but does nothing for adult me, whereas Wanted-James McAvoy definitely gets my blood going (the glossy-oily-sweaty look doesn't hurt either), but I think he might have intimidated high school me. (Maybe there's something to RFC's theory.)
(I have a vague and somewhat distrubing feeling that I can trace this shift back precisely to the moment in 2002 when I saw Dwayne Johnson in The Scorpion King, and thought, "Actually, that's not a bad look...")
Other notable physical
Other notable physical transformations: Christian Bale buffed up nicely for "Batman Begins". And Keanu Reeves hit the weights hard for his role in "Speed".
Actually the more dramatic transformation of Mr Bale was for the movie "The Machinist". He starved himself and lost a whopping 63 lbs.
-Ron.
I'm not a muscle fan
afhickman
"It takes a village (to make Village People)"
McAvoy is the only one of this group who actually looks "better" buff; however the transformation began about the time he made "Atonement." Others remain attractive, but hardly improved, while the rest look merely comical. I deplore this trend toward beefing (and bearding) up. There's bound to come a time when the sound of hissing is all the air escaping from their pecs. Other actors who went the anabolic route and wound up losing their appeal (IMHO) are David Morse and Thomas Jane. Boys, please--spend a couple of hours a day in the gym, but focus on aerobic training! Of course, everybody knows that the BEST place to get a workout is in bed. Anybody need a trainer?
Jamie Bamber + Christian Bale + Chris Evans
Jamie Bamber. Anything before Battlestargalactica vs. Battlestar Galactica super beef Apollo.
Christian Bale!! Compare "The Empire of the Sun" vs. "American Phsyco" / "Equilibrium" ... that's a buff-up transformation!
But THE REALLY BIG PRIZE goes to Chirs Evans, from "The Newcomers" to pretty much everything else he has done. Here is the commer's trailer, see if you can recognize him http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/279405/The-Newcomers/trailers
John Travolta
Went from SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER to STAYING ALIVE and lost a lot of body hair along the way too. But then he went hunk to junk with GET SHORTY and everything thereafter.
Christian Bale
Christian Bale was only 12 when he made "Empire of the Sun", so I should hope you think he's hotter now. But comparing him in "Little Women" and "Batman Begins", I think he went from hot to hotter. Ditto Tobey Maguire.
Travolta was hotter before he bulked up-in fact, the sight of him in cutoffs in "The Boy In the Plastic Bubble" is still one of my fondest Jr. High memories. I loved Pauline Kael's assessment of his new body in "Staying Alive": "I didn't see anything wrong with his body in Saturday Night Fever...dancer's don't need the bodybuilders' muscles he's got now. What would they do with them, lift 2-ton ballerinas?"
I really think it depends on the actor: some look better when they're more buff, some don't.
Wilson Cruz
What about B.A.G.?
Brian Austin Green-he did nothing for me back when he was on Beverly Hills 90210.
But have you seen him on Terminater: The Sarah Connor Chronicles? YOWZAH! My jaw was on the floor when I saw him. He is one B.A.G. of S.E.X.Y.
Wesley's the Man! But how will he look with Furry Feet?
afhickman
"It takes a village (to make Village People)"
I just saw "Wanted" and the person who flamed me for not liking muscle men should be happy to know that James McAvoy, who plays the buff Wesley, acquits himself admirably in an otherwise lackluster film. "Wanted" has its moments, but its mostly just a lot of sound and fury signifying nothing. Morgan Freeman plays one of his patented big-brother guru roles, and Angelina Jolie shines (or is it just the vaseline?) in another action-adventuress role. I kept thinking McAvoy reminded me of someone in the first (and better) half of the film, then Marc Warren showed up as a sadistic assassin named The Repairman, and it struck me: he looks a lot like Lee Williams in "No Night is Too Long." This may be the film that will grab Hollywood's attention and make McAvoy's career, but I must say, I was disappointed when I looked him up on IMDB only to find his next big role is as Bilbo Baggins in "The Hobbit." It's apparently a live-action film, and it's being directed by Guillermo del Toro, with a 2011 release date. If I'm still around, I'll probably go see it, but I hope McAvoy gets to work on some more challenging projects in the meantime. He's already done a faun (see photo above) in Narnia--are these fur-footed roles Hobbit-forming?
Ryan Reynolds is frickin' HOT, HOT, HOT!