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.

James McAvoy breaks out the guns in Wanted

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?