Charlize Theron has said she became depressed after gaining 22kgs for her new role as an overwhelmed mother in Tully.
Her preparation for the role included switching to an extremely fatty diet which included binging on burgers and milkshakes for breakfast and gorging on mac and cheese after midnight.
She told Entertainment Weekly, “I wanted to feel what this woman felt, and I think that was a way for me to get closer to her and get into that mindset.”
“You know, it was a huge surprise to me. I got hit in the face pretty hard with depression. Yeah, for the first time in my life I was eating so much processed foods and I drank way too much sugar. I was not that fun to be around on this film.”
A stash of midnight snacks beside her bed helped the actress achieve her dramatic transformation.
“I remember having to set my alarm in the middle of the night in order to just maintain [the weight].”
“I would wake up and I would just eat it … I would just, like, shove it in my throat. It’s hard to maintain that weight.”
The Oscar winner said her kids were confused by the weight gain as she said they were “convinced that I had a baby in my belly.” Charlize also revealed that it took a year and a half to lose the weight and that the process was “hell”.
Tully will be in Irish cinemas from April 20th.
