Actors Whose Contracts Banned Them From Weight Change
Yes, it's obvious how much work some actors go through to maintain their physiques for the sake of bringing their characters to life. But did you know that this discipline is often a legally-binding stipulation written into their contracts?
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00:00Yes, it's obvious how much work some actors go through to maintain their physiques for
00:05the sake of bringing their characters to life, but did you know that this discipline is often
00:09a legally binding stipulation written into their contracts?
00:13Probably the most well-known example of a weight clause in an actor's contract comes
00:17from Rebel Wilson, who played the iconic role of Fat Amy in Pitch Perfect and its sequels.
00:22In the film, Wilson's character calls herself Fat Amy because she wants to discourage other
00:27people from doing it behind her back.
00:32Most of Amy's character arc relates to her weight and doesn't stray far from the Fat
00:36Funny Friend archetype.
00:42In February 2023, she opened up about her contract on an episode of the podcast called
00:47Her Daddy.
00:48She told the host that she waited until the Pitch Perfect franchise was over to start
00:51her weight loss journey, saying,
00:53I couldn't lose a massive amount of weight because it was in the contracts for that movie.
00:57You can't lose more than 10 pounds or gain more than 10 pounds.
01:00You have to kind of stay at the weight.
01:03One of actress Renee Zellweger's most iconic roles is Bridget Jones in the film trilogy,
01:08Bridget Jones's Diary, Bridget Jones's The Edge of Reason, and Bridget Jones's Baby.
01:12The character of Bridget is constantly lamenting over her weight.
01:15The first thing she writes in her journal in the film is that her current weight is
01:19136 pounds, and that she wants to lose 20 pounds.
01:22The opposite was true for Zellweger, who had to gain 30 pounds and stay at that weight
01:26for the duration of the original film, then regain and maintain it for the sequels, too.
01:31After all, Bridget Jones wasn't meant to look like a sleek Hollywood actor, but rather a
01:35relatable woman whose insecurity about her weight wouldn't cause the audience to wonder
01:40if she has body dysmorphic disorder.
01:41Hi.
01:42You like me just the way I am.
01:46Though the Bridget Jones films won't win any awards for spreading body positivity, Zellweger
01:51didn't complain about gaining weight, except on nights when she had no appetite and couldn't
01:55bear to eat another Snickers bar.
01:57Between the Bridget Jones films, Zellweger lost weight and took on other roles.
02:01However, she was contractually obligated to get back to the Bridget Jones look by the
02:05time the sequels rolled around.
02:08Many people know Tom Holland from his role as Spider-Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
02:12Some might also recognize him from dramas like The Impossible or The Devil All the Time.
02:17No matter what you recognize Holland for, though, you likely picture him as young, charming,
02:21and cut.
02:22One film where Holland's physique was key to the story is in The Heart of the Sea.
02:26The film is a historical drama that follows the wreck of an American whaling ship in the
02:301820s, which happened to inspire a little book called Moby Dick by Herman Melville.
02:34It's just a whale.
02:37Holland plays Thomas Nickerson, the ship's cabin boy and lone survivor.
02:41Because the crew is struggling to survive on very few rations, the actors in the film
02:45needed to look thinner than usual.
02:47Holland was no exception, but he told The Independent that he wasn't legally allowed
02:51to lose any weight he didn't start out with because he was under 18 during filming.
02:55So he said,
02:56"'I had to gain as much weight as I could prior to the weight loss and then lose it
02:59all again.
03:00Towards the end of the film, I did lose a little more than I should have, but it's my
03:03art and I love it.'"
03:06Some people know actor Tom Welling from his role as Charlie Baker in the Cheaper by the
03:09Dozen films, while others may remember him from the 10-season superhero series Smallville.
03:15Which follows a young Superman as he comes to terms with his extraterrestrial origins
03:19and astonishing powers.
03:21"'I took a shortcut.'
03:22"'Through what?
03:23A black hole?'
03:25Welling played Clark Kent in his superhero alter-ego from 2001 to 2011.
03:31Everyone knows Superman as a chiseled guy in a skin-tight suit, so it makes sense that
03:34there would be a weight clause in Welling's contract.
03:37Throughout the 10-season run, Welling had to maintain his superhero physique without
03:41gaining any weight.
03:42On top of that, he wasn't allowed to play basketball, his favorite sport, because producers
03:46didn't want him getting injured.
03:47Impressively, Welling was able to keep his weight consistent for 10 full years while
03:51shooting the series.
03:53That's no small feat, especially because the show began filming when he was 23 and didn't
03:57finish until he was 33."
04:00Another franchise that requires weight clauses is Marvel, which gives MCU actors little leeway
04:05when it comes to changing their appearance.
04:07Granted, we don't have any Marvel contracts available to review, but intense diet and
04:11exercise routines are famously a big part of MCU actors' lifestyles.
04:24Characters like Captain America or Thor are known for their superhero bodies and are likely
04:28highly discouraged from altering their looks in any way before or during filming.
04:33Marvel actors are a great example of working extremely hard to stay in shape over a long
04:37period of time.
04:38For example, to keep his body in a condition worthy of Steve Rogers, Chris Evans participated
04:43in hand-to-hand combat, swimming, explosive strength, sprinting, and mere muscle exercises.
04:49If you watched the group films, the first Avengers movie came out in 2012 and the last
04:54film in the Infinity Saga premiered in 2019.
04:56Some of the cast were required to maintain the same weight and physique for seven years,
05:01which is a major accomplishment.
05:04Bollywood fans will surely recognize Goody Maroody, who's known for films like Zendage
05:08Tumse and Dilterra Divana.
05:11She's also appeared in plenty of television shows, including the 1990 series Sorry Mary
05:16Laurie.
05:17Early in her career, Maroody was pushed into the Fat Funny Friend category.
05:21Maroody never viewed herself as the heroine and learned to laugh at herself when she was
05:24in the public eye because she knew people would chastise her for her weight.
05:28Contractually, Maroody wasn't allowed to lose weight while she was working.
05:31She was particularly important when she was shooting Sorry Mary Laurie.
05:34Nonetheless, she lost 10 kilos, or about 22 pounds.
05:38The executives were not pleased with the weight loss and made her gain it back.
05:42It wasn't until after she stopped working that she was finally able to lose weight without
05:46violating a contract clause.
05:49The psychological thriller Black Swan follows a ballerina named Nina, played by Natalie
05:53Portman, who dedicates her life to dancing.
05:56Her company decides to do Swan Lake, and Nina gets the lead.
05:59However, her competition is a new ballerina named Lily, played by Mila Kunis.
06:03Lily is the yin to Nina's yang.
06:05While Nina perfectly dances the white swan, Lily's black swan is much more raw and seductive.
06:11Their rivalry becomes a sort of frenemy scenario, and psychological chaos ensues.
06:16Both Portman and Kunis put themselves through the wringer for Black Swan.
06:20They had to train hard to dance the roles and become wildly flexible, but one of the
06:24hardest aspects of preparing for the film came from losing weight to authentically portray
06:28a ballerina.
06:29Kunis shed 20 pounds, getting down to her all-time low of 95 pounds, while Portman shed
06:34the same amount.
06:35She said she thought she was going to die because of the intense toll the weight loss
06:39and training took on her body.
06:41On camera, the experience definitely paid off, as Black Swan is arguably one of director
06:46Darren Aronofsky's best films.
06:49Both Portman and Kunis delivered critically acclaimed performances, and Portman took home
06:53the 2011 Best Actress Oscar.
06:56But the real-life toll on the actresses' bodies may have been too intense for any human
07:00to safely and healthily endure.
07:02I will never dance again.
07:04I promise you, I will never put on that pointe shoe ever again.
07:09Another actor known for her weight is Chrissy Metz, who played Kate in the hit television
07:14drama This Is Us.
07:15Kate is a complex character.
07:17She teaches, adopts children, goes through in vitro fertilization, and is involved in
07:21several serious relationships.
07:23However, one of the most discussed aspects of Kate's character is her relationship with
07:28her body.
07:29Kate struggles with her weight throughout the six-season series, and even meets her
07:32serious boyfriend and eventual husband, Toby, in a support group for eating disorders.
07:37Part of Kate and Toby's journey in the show comes from their efforts to lose weight.
07:47Kate struggles to take better care of herself and her body, so the show's creators thought
07:51it best to include a weight clause in Metz's contract.
07:54In the agreement, Metz was not only barred from gaining weight, but actually ordered
07:58to lose weight along with her character, so that the trajectories of her fictional persona
08:02and real-life appearance would coincide.
08:13Metz claimed she was happy with the contract, though, and even called it a win-win.
08:17However, she did make it clear that whether or not she lost weight or remained the same,
08:21she would be doing so for her health, and not to satisfy a societal idea of what people
08:26are supposed to weigh.
08:28Who could forget the actors in their iconic red bathing suits slow-motion running across
08:31the beach?
08:32These scenes are half of what made the Baywatch television series so memorable.
08:36The other half were the actors like David Hasselhoff, Pamela Anderson, and more who
08:41inhabited the characters for years.
08:43The cast of this beachy soap opera, which ran from 1989 to 2001, worked out to maintain
08:48their bathing suit bodies from season to season.
08:51In fact, many of the actors were afraid of being fired because of the weight change clause
08:55that barred them from gaining or losing more than five pounds.
08:58The cast discussed the clause with E! News, confirming that five pounds was the most your
09:02weight could fluctuate before it became a problem.
09:05Actresses Tracy Bingham, who played Jordan Tate from 1996 to 1998, and Nicole Eggert,
09:10who played Summer Quinn from 1992 to 1994, explained that if the actors did anything
09:15drastic to their appearance, most importantly to their weight, they would be in trouble
09:19with the executives of the show.
09:20Of course, because each episode's plot pretty much revolves around what the actors look
09:24like, it makes sense that there were weight clauses in their contracts.
09:28Frankly, it's surprising there was even room for a five-pound fluctuation, given that the
09:32show premiered in their aerobics-crazed 80s.
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