Orlando Bloom experienced “intrusive thoughts” while losing weight for his new boxing drama The Cut, which follows the extreme measures a retired boxer faces in order to make the required weight for his big comeback fight.
Speaking to Yahoo UK for a Role Recall interview, the Pirates of the Caribbean star reflected on the restrictive diet and stringent exercise plan he did in order to lose the weight required for the film. The extreme weight loss was monitored closely by professionals, but the actor admits it was a difficult process — even if it was an interesting challenge.
“I was hungry the whole time, hangry (the combination of being hungry and angry) the whole time. I was probably not a lot of fun to be around. But I’m quite physical, I really love the boxing genre of movies and I thought this was a fresh take by focusing on cutting weight, which is what boxers do to get into the ring, they cut their weight to fight.
“It’s really the extremes that somebody like an athlete will go to to have a second shot, to get that title shot, to have that dream, to live that dream, to feel like they’re enough.
The actor lost a significant amount of weight for the film, which he shared was an interesting challenge but left him feeling ‘paranoid’ at times. (Altitude)
“It was an intense movie, obviously, partly due to the physical restrictions of getting to that weight, diet has a huge part to play in our mental health and our whole makeup. It’s a requirement that we eat, and restricting my diet so dramatically, which we did with a great nutritionist from L.A., who tested my blood to make sure that things were okay, and then we started the movie.
“Actually, we shot it in reverse chronological order, so I was actually at my lightest weight at the beginning of filming. We shot the last scene of the movie, and we went backward from there, and that actually worked quite well for my brain, weirdly.”
The actor adds: “I kind of seemed to have it locked in my head, in a weird way, I found I made it work for me somehow because it was very challenging, but in a weird way and I kind of lent into it.
“You definitely have some intrusive thoughts when you’re hungry and you’re a little bit paranoid and all of that. Getting into this character who’s just willing to do what it takes, to do anything that it takes to have his shot and to prove himself.
Orlando Bloom worked with a nutritionist on reducing his calorie intake and would work out three times a day sometimes for The Cut. (Altitude)
“And I think that’s so relatable to people in the world, we will do extreme things to feel like we’re enough or that we can wi. That we can have that second shot and that we’ll come out on top, you know?”
“And I love that about the script as well,” the Legolas star goes on. “I love that about the movie. I think it’s very different from anything I’ve done before and I was very committed to the character.”
Bloom admits that he was “intrigued” by other actors “use physicality and restriction of calories with great success” and wanted to explore a similar thing himself. He shares: “I was really up for it. And I just went wholeheartedly into it. I was doing at least an hour and a half on the treadmill, or an hour and a half in the gym, and boxing training. So [I had] maybe three sessions a day.
The Cut (Altitude)
“I ate a lot, and then I restricted a lot, but I had to keep the protein intake so I was eating a lot of tuna and cucumber, which is sort of is almost like a diuretic. But it just kept everything moving, but kept the protein intake. It’s surprising how you have to eat little and often, because part of it was you just don’t want to become emaciated completely because you’ve got to look like an athlete, right?
“So it was a science. It was definitely a science to it. I wouldn’t recommend anyone just trying to do it at home.”
Bloom spoke of how it is an interesting time in his life to play a character like Boxer, sharing how the character —and indeed the film— allowed him to push himself in ways he hadn’t been able to before onscreen. It was his way of “swinging for the fences”, he says, and proving himself as an actor.
He shares: “I think my reason for wanting to play boxer, and actually when Mark Lane, the producer, bought this idea to me, we kind of threw it around together for a long time before we finally got it on its feet… I think I just wanted to really push myself.
“I wanted to sort of burn the barn down and really just swing for the fences. and just go for something, take the brakes off and just let it roll and see where you land. And this is definitely that movie, you know? You get into the cinema with this film and you sit, the brakes are off and it’s full throttle.
“It’s a real ride of a character who’s desperate for a second shot, desperate for a shot at the title, desperate to prove himself and all those things, I think, as an actor you can relate to him in all sorts of ways. I’ve never done anything quite like this before, and that was the challenge, and that was the opportunity, and that was the thing that I wanted to really throw myself into, to really give it a crack.
“So I kind of just went for it, and the timing was right. I’m really grateful that Paramount+ is going to be streaming it and we’re going to get it in [cinemas].”
The Cut premieres in UK cinemas on Friday, 5 September. Orlando Bloom’s full Role Recall interview will be published later this week.