Hugh Jackman (Wolverine) and Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler) made two of the most dramatic body transformations that I’ve ever seen in their recent movies. Were the hulking muscles they built all through hard work and dedication or through the usage of anabolic steroids? Look at the pictures we have of their dramatic body transformations and judge for yourself.

Hollywood is a fascinating place where production studios spend incredible amounts of money to create movies and big-time actors are given millions of dollars to play roles in these films. Seeing as how the studios are giving movies stars millions to act, they often expect these stars to go above and beyond for their roles.

Just take a look at Jamie Foxx in his new movie The Soloist where he put a ton of work into his role as a music prodigy with schizophrenia. In preparing for The Soloist (costarring Robert Downey Jr.), Foxx took the time to learn both the cello and violin from L.A. Philharmonic cellist Ben Hogan.

Even more extreme than Foxx was Daniel Day-Lewis in The Last of the Mohicans as he actually lived out in the wilderness for several months so he could really get a feel for his role as the Indian “Hawkeye”. While living out in the wilderness Day-Lewis hunted, fished, and lived off of the land for a long time. As if this wasn’t enough, he also carried his Pennsylvania long rifle around the set all of the time to remain in character.

One other great example of how far actors are willing to go to nail down their part is Robert DeNiro when he played a disturbed cab driver by the name of Travis Bickle in the movie Taxi Driver. In order to get a real feel for the work a cab driver does, DeNiro worked 12 hour days as a cabbie in New York City.

So I ask you: if rich and famous actors are willing to learn how to play a cello and violin, live off of the wilderness for several months, and work 12 hour shifts as a cab driver for a role then what else are they willing to do? Especially when the role calls for them to go from having an average physique to becoming a ripped, muscular beast!

Obviously an actor will do a lot of weight training, eating, and workouts with personal trainers, but I don’t see this cutting the bill when an actor has to gain 40 or 50 pounds of muscle in a span of a few months. In fact, I’d even go as far as to say the unthinkable in that some of our favorite Hollywood stars are using steroids to achieve the huge, muscular builds they develop in short amounts of time.

Now I can’t say for sure who used steroids for what roles, but I do know that one can use their own eyes and commonsense to tell if an actor possibly used roids or not. And, if you really stop and think about it, how in the world would an actor have time to put hours in at the gym when they’ve also got to read their script, rehearse lines, and practice becoming their character all while changing locations and sets. I really couldn’t tell you how and the body transformations that I’ve seen in some recent films have me really puzzled.

One of the transformations in question for me has to be that of Hugh Jackman in the movie X-Men Origins: Wolverine. In this recently released movie, Jackman has to fill the role of Wolverine who is a ripped, hulking maniac with claws of steel and muttonchop sideburns. While Jackman has proved that he is great at playing this role through previous X-Men films, becoming Wolverine isn’t easy for the recently crowned “World’s Sexiest Man”.

First Jackman has to grow the previously mentioned muttonchops that Wolverine is know for and he has to develop the attitude of a crazed mutant which is very hard for someone who’s starred in his fair share of chick flicks. Of course, the toughest part is definitely adding the extra muscle so as to be true to the Marvel Comic Book version of Wolverine.

Now Jackman isn’t some skinny crack fiend, but he’s certainly no Branch Warren either so plenty of training is always in the works for Hugh to fit back into his Wolverine role. According to Jackman, the way he gained the muscle to play Wolverine again was by undergoing a high intensity weight lifting program along with cardiovascular workouts. During this training, Hugh would get up at 4 am to eat a protein-based meal before he arrived at the gym to workout at 6 am.

Jackman also stated that, in the scene where he rises from a water tank looking ripped as ever, there were no digital effects done to his physique. I definitely wish I could look like Jackman did in that scene by simply doing some weight training, eating protein, and doing a little cardio.

Of course I suppose it is possible to get this kind of physique through natural training – if you’re not an extremely busy Hollywood movie star! This brings me to my point about how Hugh Jackman was on set at another movie called Australia just before he arrived at Fox Studios Australia to begin filming Wolverine. This was another one of Hugh’s famous romance movies and he wasn’t nearly as big in Australia as he was in Wolverine. Now I won’t make any accusations, but the transformation Jackman made from Australia to Wolverine seemed to be a little beyond what working out and eating right can do.

On Wednesday, we\'ll take a look at Mickey Rourke\'s transformation in The Wrestler also perhaps with steroids. Here\'s a link to Mickey Rourke The Wrestler Steroids.

Here\'s some links to discuss Hugh Jackman and Steroids on the EF Forums:

Did Hugh Jackman take Steroids for his role in the Wolverine movie?

And here\'s some related article on:

The Top Muscle Movies of All Time

Actors on Anabolic Steroids!

Stallone Steroids and Movie Steroids

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