Mark Wahlberg isn’t the shredded action star you remember. The actor traded in his bulging biceps and chiseled abs for a paunchy belly for his part in the upcoming biographical drama Father Stu. He recently spoke out about the difficulty he faced putting on 30 LB in a matter of weeks and how he ate 11,000 calories—including a daily glass of olive oil—to make it happen.
Mark Wahlberg Gained 30 LB in Six Weeks For His Role In Father Stu, But Admits Only The First Meal Was 'Amazing'
Marky Mark said he had just six weeks to put on the 30 LB required for his role as Stuart Long, a boxer-turned-priest, in the upcoming biographical drama Father Stu. He admitted the first meal was great, but at 50-years-old, putting on that much weight in such a short time might not be the best idea.
"I had six weeks to put on about 30 pounds. I started with 7,000 calories for the first two weeks and then 11,000 calories for the final four weeks," Wahlberg said. "None of it was fun, except for the first meal was amazing, because I hadn't eaten anything up until that point. But after that, when you're already full and you have to eat again, and at my age, it's just not a healthy thing to do, to try to put on that kind of weight in that amount of time."
This Isn't The First Time Mark Wahlberg Transformed For A Role
This isn’t Mark’s first rodeo. He previously lost 60LB for The Gambler, and then gained it all back on a diet of fried foods, wine, and beer for his part in Deepwater Horizon, but he says this time around he tried to be healthy.
"I wasn't eating anything that you would think, 'Oh my God, I get to sit on the couch and eat ice cream and pizzas,'" he said. "... I tried to do it in a healthy way. It was a dozen eggs and a dozen pieces of bacon, two baked potatoes, a Porterhouse steak, two bowls of white rice, and a glass of olive oil."
Last year, the Mile 22 actor told Jimmy Fallon that it was fun putting on weight for "about an hour," but now that he's older it's difficult to bulk up or shed weight. Mark told Jimmy that he did it because he was passionate about the movie, and had spent six years trying to get it made. When he finally got the chance to shoot, he was given 30 days. He told Fallon, "I wanted to really make it happen."
