Celebs Who Were Completely Unrecognizable After Getting Ripped

Sometimes actors must go to extreme lengths to fully understand and inhabit the characters they play, a process that occasionally includes altering their very appearance to align more closely with what was presented by screenwriters on the page. One of the most famous examples: Christian Bale losing a shocking amount of weight in preparation for the role of Trevor Reznik in the 2004 psychological thriller "The Machinist." Thanks to a diet consisting of water, an apple, and one cup of coffee per day, Bale reportedly dropped 65 pounds to achieve the look he wanted for the role. Then, in a shocking turn of events, he bulked up at the behest of director Christopher Nolan and got completely shredded to play the Dark Knight in 2005's "Batman Begins" the following year.

It's the latter transformation that we're focused on today as entertainers continue to shock audiences by swelling up and showing off their ripped bodies in film and television projects and on social media. With the superhero genre taking flight over the last two decades and action movies continuing to be made regularly in Hollywood, performers are often tasked with undergoing full-on transformations to better embody their roles. Here are several celebrities who were borderline unrecognizable after getting ripped.

When Chris Pratt, who lived a much different life before he was famous, signed on to play Andy Dwyer on the NBC sitcom "Parks and Recreation" ahead of its 2009 debut, he was best known for portraying Bright Abbott on the Greg Berlanti-produced WB drama "Everwood." And while his character was depicted as an athlete and one of the cool kids, Pratt wasn't exactly known for having a shredded physique. He was even further away from the buff look on "Parks," where he was depicted as a layabout or a lovable shlub more than anything. So, when he was cast by James Gunn to play Peter Quill, also known as Star-Lord, in "Guardians of the Galaxy," he had some work to do to achieve a believable superhero appearance. Pratt had bulked up before for films like "Zero Dark Thirty," but he was forced to take his fitness to a whole new level when he boarded the train that is the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Shortly thereafter, he revealed his new physique in a 2013 Instagram selfie, revealing in the caption that he had achieved the shredded look, at least in part, by cutting beer out of his diet for six months. Pratt later told People that his lifestyle change had also had an effect on his mental health, saying, "Being in good physical shape is the best way to combat depression. You just have endorphins running around your body. It is the best anti-depressive that there is."

When Linda Hamilton appeared in the first "Terminator" film in 1984, she wasn't playing the Sarah Connor character that fans came to know, a woman determined to fight for the future and the fate of all humanity against an artificial intelligence determined to eradicate her kind. Rather, Sarah Connor was a waitress and a college student who was suddenly confronted with the knowledge that the end of life as she knew it was on the horizon, and her son, John Connor, would eventually be humankind's last hope. By the time "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" rolled around, though, many years had passed, and Connor was a hardened warrior refusing to accept fate. In order to portray that arc realistically, Hamilton transformed her body and skill set in real life.

Hamilton spent 13 weeks training with personal trainer Anthony Cortes, running, biking, swimming, stair-climbing, and doing free weights and mini-trampoline work, in addition to adhering to a strict diet. She also trained extensively with an Israeli commando, Uzi Gal. The end result was a body she could be proud of. "I couldn't wait to take my clothes off," said Hamilton of her transformation in a 1991 Entertainment Weekly feature. "I'd pull my little crop top up — I had a running bra on — for anyone who wanted to see. It's just wonderful when you fall in love with your body. Arnold (Schwarzenegger) was low-key at first, but then when he saw how strong I was, he was thrilled."

He may not have been the hulk he is now back when he was working on projects like "High School Musical" and "17 Again," but Zac Efron has long been known for keeping himself in prime condition. His commitment to fitness was on full display way back in 2017 when he starred alongside Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson in the cinematic adaptation of "Baywatch," essentially showcasing his beach bod for the majority of the film's running time. However, Efron went above and beyond the call of duty for his role as professional wrestling legend Kevin Von Erich in "The Iron Claw." In real life, Von Erich was known worldwide for his exceptional physique and athleticism in the ring. So, after accepting his role for the 2023 biopic, he made it his mission to accurately portray the former grappler to the best of his abilities.

"When you're playing a real person and it's a true story, there's an extra bit of motivation to get things as honest and real as possible. And I knew that going into this, after watching the footage of Kevin in the ring, that the physicality was gonna be the hardest thing to get right. So, I started training probably six months before and it's the hardest thing I've ever done," Efron told Access Hollywood in 2023.

Long before Kumail Nanjiani started appearing in prominent film and television roles, the Pakistani performer was known as an alternative stand-up comic and a certified geek. He even hosted a gaming podcast with his wife, writer Emily V. Gordon, known as "The Indoor Kids," on which the couple waxed philosophical each week on topics ranging from games as art to the politics of "Bioshock." In other words, it wasn't a huge stretch when he was cast as a programmer in HBO's "Silicon Valley." So, when he was brought into the Marvel Cinematic Universe to play the role of Kingo Sunen, an immortal tasked with defending humanity against Deviant monsters threatening the race's very existence, he made a choice to find the superhero within himself.

"I found out a year ago I was going to be in Marvel's 'Eternals' and decided I wanted to transform how I looked. I would not have been able to do this if I didn't have a full year with the best trainers and nutritionists paid for by the biggest studio in the world. I'm glad I look like this, but I also understand why I never did before. It would have been impossible without these resources and time," Nanjiani wrote via Instagram in 2019. Although "Eternals" underperformed and its banning in certain countries left Angelina Jolie fuming, Nanjiani clearly put the resources afforded to him by the film to good use.

Once upon a time, long before he could count himself among the ranks of Hollywood's A-listers, Jake Gyllenhaal was the skinny kid who starred in "Bubble Boy" and "Donnie Darko" in the early 2000s. Fast-forward to now, and it makes total sense to see him taking names and kicking you-know-what in action films like 2019's "Spider-Man: Far from Home" (as the super-villain Mysterio) and 2024's take on the cult classic "Roadhouse." However, the big transformation came a decade earlier for Gyllenhaal as he prepared himself to play boxing champion Billy "the Great" Hope in the Antoine Fuqua sports drama "Southpaw," alongside the likes of Forest Whitaker and Rachel McAdams. 

Gyllenhaal didn't just play a prize fighter in the movie — he literally morphed into one physically and learned how to fight like the pros, and the experience left him forever changed. "It was life-changing to be honest. I mean, I felt like sort of more confident internally than I had in my whole life. And that was not just due to the physical stuff. It was really due to learning boxing and knowing that I could defend myself if I needed to," Gyllenhaal told NPR in 2015.

As Kumail Nanjiani proved, an actor doesn't have to be a long-running contributor to the Marvel Cinematic Universe — or even have a background in big-budget action films — to parlay a role as a super-powered being in the franchise into an opportunity to get absolutely shredded in real life. Comedian and celebrity prankster Sacha Baron Cohen is another prime example of making the most of one's involvement in that kind of production from a physical standpoint. The "Borat" star played the super-villain Mephisto in the Season 1 finale of the Marvel/Disney+ series "Ironheart," with the promise of more to come. However, Cohen is already turning heads with his fitness, donning the cover of Men's Fitness UK.

In 2025, Cohen commented on his regimen in his typical, irreverent fashion via social media. "This is not AI, I really am egotistical enough to do this," Cohen wrote on his Instagram Stories, via People, as he shared photos from the cover shoot. "Some celebs use Ozempic, some use private chefs, others use personal trainers. I did all three." Whatever he did, there's no denying that it worked for him.

As one-third of DC Comics' fabled Trinity, Wonder Woman is one of the most iconic characters in comic book history, and her appearance is incredibly specific. She's depicted in the comics as an Amazon warrior, a veritable force of nature who can hold her own physically with ultra-powered beings from throughout the multiverse, including Superman himself. So, whenever the character graces the screen, there's a built-in expectation from fans about what she should look like. In her fledgling days as part of the "Fast and the Furious" franchise, Gal Gadot didn't quite fit the bill where her physical stature was concerned. So, being no stranger to transformations, Gadot went about building herself into someone who could strike a more heroic pose, reportedly gaining 17 pounds of muscle.

"I gained a lot of body mass after I was first cast in the role. I danced for 12 years and I played a lot team sports: basketball, volleyball. But now I lift a lot of weights. That's new. I feel much stronger than I was. I feel it on my posture and the way I hold my body. I feel good," she told Entertainment Weekly in 2016. "I started out very, very skinny, and because I gained body mass, I really enjoy the way my body looks ... better than I did before. I enjoy the curves. I enjoy the strength, the back, the guns. Now I'm aware of my muscles. And I like it."

Continuing with the DC Universe, Superman has traditionally been lauded as the most powerful hero in the publisher's canon. However, that hasn't always translated into seeing a bulked-out titan on the big screen. For all the charm, hard work, and physicality they brought to the role, Christopher Reeve and Brandon Routh weren't exactly imposing physically. Henry Cavill, on the other hand, looked like a literal god thanks to his insane workout routine in preparation for the role. Under the direction of trainer Mark Twight, Cavill trained twice daily, eating 5,000 to 6,000 calories along the way, and kept a strict sleep schedule of 10 hours nightly. In doing so, he bulked up from 170 pounds to between 186 and 190 pounds during the shooting of "Man of Steel."

After that first film was under their belts, Twight praised Cavill's efforts, telling Muscle & Fitness, "Genuine accomplishment looks and feels different. It cannot be faked. By doing physically difficult things, by changing his body of his own will, Henry changed his attitude and his bearing. He looked huge. He walked huge. His attitude broadcast his physical capability."

Getting into killer shape doesn't always require the promise of an acting job. Sometimes, it's simply a matter of maximizing one's health and overall fitness. Such was the case for "Hollyoaks" star James Sutton, who came to the realization that he wasn't living life to the best of his ability and, in turn, decided to flip the proverbial script. In 2024, Sutton explained to OK! Magazine that, after splitting with his former wife, Rachael Collin, the previous year, partying too hard, and battling panic attacks and anxiety, he decided that something had to give. "I was getting divorced and it coincided with me thinking, 'I need to do something.' And I just got addicted a little bit, I think," he told the outlet. "I didn't look after myself at all. I was making poor choices with diet and alcohol and late nights. It takes its toll — I can't be behaving like that anymore."

Sutton revealed that he trains five times weekly, hitting every muscle group twice over that period and balancing exercises with a good diet. He also championed TikTok and YouTube as resources for people who want to undergo their own fitness journeys, adding, "There is so much stuff for people who want to get into fitness."

Another funny man turned fitness pillar, Paul Rudd provided the blueprint for performers like Kumail Nanjiani and Sacha Baron Cohen to follow. Prior to his entry into the MCU via "Ant-Man," Rudd was primarily known for his comedic chops, typically in supporting roles, in mid-2000s hits like "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy," "The 40-Year-Old Virgin," and "Knocked Up." And while those talents have continued to be on display in his Marvel projects, Rudd has also taken pains to look the part of a superhero, including putting himself on a very restrictive diet.

That said, he joked in 2023 that all the hard work may have been for naught as he was outshone by his co-star, Jonathan Majors, in "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania." "'He [Jonathan] was terrifying, and it was pretty intense. I tried to bulk up and get in shape, but it was pointless compared to Jon, and why do it when Ant-Man never takes his shirt off?" he explained to Graham Norton, via the Daily Mail. Still, it's hard to argue with the results; Rudd was named People's Sexiest Man Alive in 2021, the year "Quantumania" started shooting.

In the 2021 Apple TV+ film "Palmer," Justin Timberlake plays Eddie Palmer, a former high school football star and felon, who strikes up a friendship with a young boy from a troubled family. While the actor, singer, and husband to Jessica Biel is no stranger to getting audiences invested emotionally with his words and actions, he needed to invest more in himself physically in order to look the part of an athlete turned rough-and-tumble ex-con. So, he and his personal trainer, Ben Bruno, got to work.

Timberlake reportedly gained 15 pounds of muscle to better embody the role. The whole process was documented by Timberlake and Bruno on social media, where the latter continues to post clips of the former's workouts. In one reel posted by Bruno, Timberlake was shown doing a 440-pound sled push. The trainer has noted that Timberlake "trained his ass off" for the Palmer role, via E!, revealing that he worked out "sometimes twice a day" and adding, "Justin trains constantly year-round, but once he sets a goal, he goes after it with an intense focus and effort and does whatever it takes."

Make no mistake about it — "Tomb Raider's" Lara Croft is one of the most iconic characters in video game history; however, the statuesque archaeologist-adventurer has yet to really stick on the big screen. Angelina Jolie played Croft in two films in the early 2000s, but those efforts didn't quite create the same fan fervor that the video games had. Alicia Vikander's efforts in the role arguably hit closer to home in 2018's "Tomb Raider," which should come as no surprise given everything that she put into getting the part right.

With the help of trainer Magnus Lygdback, the normally slight Vikander is said to have added 12 pounds of muscle to her frame. Lygdback, who previously worked with the likes of Britney Spears and Alexander Skarsgård, utilized his "Magnus Method" workout to whip Vikander into shape, building her program on a foundation of high-intensity interval training. "I did a lot of months of training; not only cycling but MMA training, I did some boxing, climbing, swimming, I lifted more weights than I've ever done in my life," Vikander told E! amid the film's release.

In 2024's "Red One," J.K. Simmons turned heads by playing a jacked Santa Claus (who sometimes spends his free time working out with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson). However, Simmons' initial metamorphosis into the muscular grandfather figure he is today actually occurred several years earlier, and the real reason he completely transformed his appearance didn't have anything to do with securing roles. In a nutshell, Simmons simply didn't like how he looked on TV. "I was not in good shape at all," he told Business Insider in 2016 of seeing himself on the first season of "Oz." "I was overweight and soft, and here I am playing the head of the Aryan Brotherhood in this maximum-security prison in the first-ever HBO original drama and I was watching the first season when it came out and I just thought, 'Wow, I don't believe this guy at all.'"

From there, Simmons vowed to keep himself in tip-top shape for the remainder of his days, and, so far, he appears to have remained true to his vow.