Matthew Fox is best known for playing nice guys – Charlie in Party of Five and Jack in Lost. However, in his latest film Alex Cross, he plays a serial killer. Oh, and he had to lose 20kg for the role.
Speaking to Men’s Health UK, he tells them: “When I took on the role in this film I said I wanted to radically change the way that I look. That’s the only way that I would buy me as that character.”
He added: “My character [serial killer Picasso] is burning energy on almost a hyper level. Without needing to spend any time in the gym he would just look like that.”
Fox wanted to lose the weight as healthily as possible. Explaining the process behind his weight loss, he says: “I didn’t have a number in my mind. But when I started making the film I weighed 73.5kg (11st8lb). Before that I was up at 91kg (14st5lb). So I lost around 20kg altogether. And as you can imagine, the dieting was difficult because I love to eat.
“The nutrition went through different phases – it wasn’t a constant 1,500kcal to 1,600kcal-a-day diet. In the beginning it was, but then as we moved closer to the movie I started eating less. There were certain scenes in the film where for a week or 10 days beforehand it was really hardcore: as little as 1,100kcal or 1,200kcal a day. I was only eating chicken breasts, steamed broccoli and protein shakes made with water. That was brutal.”
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Posted by Amy Power.