Maisie Williams Details Intense 25-Pound Weight Loss For New Role
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Originally appeared on E! Online
Maisie Williams had to undergo a new look for her latest role.
The Game of Thrones alum recently revealed that she underwent a grueling transformation, in which she lost 25 pounds and shaved her head to step into the shoes of Christian Dior's younger sister Catherine Dior in Apple TV's The New Look.
"I was eating very little, meditating all the time, burning candles and incense in my apartment," Maisie told Harper's Bazaar U.K. in an interview published Feb. 6. "I had to be up at 4 a.m. to start sweating."
She noted she had to take extreme measures to realistically portray Catherine, who had an emaciated appearance following the end of World War II after she had been imprisoned by Nazis at a concentration camp.
At night, she was allowed to eat salty foods. "Then I had a boiling-hot bath with lots of salts in it," she continued. "I sort of levitated to bed and slept for maybe three hours, and woke up and had a handful of nuts. I wouldn't be able to sleep through the night at this point. I kept waking up and feeling like a marble inside a bottle, rattling around."
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For Maisie—who was monitored by a team of medical professionals to supervise her drastic weight loss—explained that this role was far more taxing than battling monarchs as Arya Stark on GoT.
As she put it, the part "took over what I'm eating and how I'm moving and sleeping and thinking."
Maisie's transformation wasn't just physical, either.
"There was a lot of feeling restricted, almost like sleep paralysis, dreams of being trapped and attacked, and horrible visions of men in uniform," she shared. "Every day of filming was a reminder that we were portraying a story of the horrors that humans are capable of inflicting on one another, but also the magic and the hope and the love."
Despite the intense process, Maisie felt it was her duty to pay homage to Catherine's legacy.
"It was hard work, but it was such an honor to do this part, and it became all-consuming," the HBO star added. "This was a role that required an extraordinary amount of research and care—and it really hit me, bringing that wartime period back to the streets of Paris; like I could acknowledge the weight of it in a way that I hadn't before."
Maisie isn't the only star to alter her appearance to get into character. Keep reading to see all of the celebrities who gained or lost weight for roles.
Mark Wahlberg
Wahlberg shared a side-by-side photo of his previous toned physique alongside his look, which he achieved by gaining 20 pounds for his film, Stu. "From this 3 weeks ago, to this, now," he wrote, shouting out his chef, Lawrence Duran. "Thanks to @chef_lawrence_d cooking."
Cillian Murphy
To play scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer in Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer, the Irish actor "had to lose quite a bit of weight," he shared. "He was very slim, almost emaciated, existed on martinis and cigarettes." His diet? According to costar Emily Blunt, "He had such a monumental undertaking.And he could only eat, like, an almond every day."
Joaquin Phoenix
For his Joker role, the Oscar winner opened up about his 52-pound weight loss, telling the Associated Press, "Once you reach the target weight, everything changes. Like so much of what's difficult is waking up every day and being obsessed over like 0.3 pounds. Right? And you really develop like a disorder."
Chris Pratt
The Parks & Recreation alum transformed into a fit superhero for Guardians of the Galaxy and never looked back.
J.K. Simmons
The Spider-Man alum shocked fans when he debuted his bulging biceps, which were displayed in Justice League.
Jake Gyllenhaal
"I'd say my mother was worried," he previously told E! News after losing 30 pounds for Nightcrawler. "I would say she just wanted me to be careful. But she also knew and knows how seriously I take what I do and she respects that."
Miles Teller
The actor bulked up for his roles in Whiplash and the Divergent franchise.
Michael B. Jordan
The Black Panther star gained nearly 30 pounds of muscle to transform into a rookie-turned-professional boxer in Creed.
Jared Leto
The actor and musician nabbed an Oscar for his riveting role in The Dallas Buyers Club. He lost 40 pounds for the role.
Chris Messina
The Mindy Project alum had to gain 40 pounds for his role in Live by Night.
Renée Zellweger
The Bridget Jones's Diary actress gained weight to portray the lovable character in the franchise's first and second films.
Chad Michael Murray
The actor lost 25 pounds for his role as a heroin addict in Other People's Children.
Matthew McConaughey
The Magic Mike hunk dropped 30 pounds to star in The Dallas Buyer's Club—which centered on the real-life story about a man dying from AIDS in the 1980s who treated himself with alternative remedies he smuggled into the United States from Mexico.
Taylor Lautner
The teen heartthrob went from cute kid to beefy babe as werewolf Jacob Black in the Twilight sequel. "The day I finished Twilight, I came home and started bulking up," he told Interview magazine. "For New Moon, I'm 30 pounds heavier than I was in Twilight."
Rooney Mara
The actress looked lean and strong for her starring role in The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.
Anne Hathaway
The Les Misérables star took home an Oscar for her role in the musical.
Christian Bale
He's no stranger to morphing for movie roles. In 2004, he lost more than 60 pounds for his role in The Machinist, and he did it again for the film The Fighter, opposite Mark Wahlberg. He also gained 40 pounds for American Hustle—and lost 70 pounds for Ford v Ferrari.
Jake Gyllenhaal (Again
The actor looked more like a god than a prince for his role in 2010's Prince of Persia. Gyllenhaal said he studied Parkour, the French art of street running, in order to bulk up for the film.
Tom Hanks
"All it is is time and discipline," the Oscar winner told Time magazine of his role in 2000's Cast Away, for which he lost over 50 pounds to play a man stranded on an uninhabited island.
50 Cent
The ripped rapper shocked fans with a photo of himself looking slender. He reportedly went from 214 to 160 pounds in just nine weeks to play a football player diagnosed with cancer in Things Fall Apart.
Robert De Niro
Shaping up for movie roles is nothing new. The legendary actor earned an Oscar nom for his role as terrifying tattooed rapist Max Cady in the 1991 thriller Cape Fear.
Christian Bale (Again)
In order to portray former Vice President Dick Cheney in the 2018 biopic Vice, the star sported a fuller figure.
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