Mark Wahlberg went to very extreme measures to , drinking glasses of olive oil.
In his latest project, the 50-year-old stars as amateur boxer Stuart Long – whose career hits a rough patch when he is injured, leading him on the journey to becoming a priest.
The role called for the actor to put on 30lbs in just six weeks – – and was consuming 11,000 calories a day at one point, something that ‘took a toll’ on him.
Speaking about his experience for the movie, Mark explained: ‘I had six weeks to put on about 30lbs. I started with 7,000 calories for the first two weeks and then 11,000 calories for the final four weeks.
‘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 and Cinnabon”.
‘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.’
‘None of it was fun, there’s nothing worse than when you’re full from the last meal and you have to eat again,’ he told .
Glugging olive oil doesn’t quite sound as fun as the burgers, milkshakes, pizzas and ice cream we had in mind…
Mark has been open about the extreme routine he lives by to ensure that he is in the best shape possible – getting up at 2.30am on a standard day and hitting the gym an hour later.
Spilling the beans on his transformation to , the Departed actor revealed that the ‘drastic’ change had a huge impact on him.
‘I was just turning 50 by the time we finished the movie, and I was eating 11,000 calories a day,’ he added.
‘That drastic weight gain really took a toll on me over the course of the last seven, eight months.’
Mark is playing Father Stuart Long in the biopic, which is loosely based on the life of the Montana boxer who retired from the sport before being involved in a serious motorcycle accident and deciding to become a priest.
The athlete was later diagnosed with a rare muscular degenerative disease which led to him needing a wheelchair.
Father Stu is in cinemas on April 13 in the US, and slated to be released on May 13 in the UK.
