Orlando Bloom is opening up about the personal cost of his extreme weight loss for his latest role.
The 48-year-old actor revealed that shedding 52 pounds to play a retired boxer in the upcoming psychological thriller The Cut left him physically drained and mentally unstable. Speaking on This Morning on Wednesday, August 27, Bloom admitted the drastic transformation came at a price he hadn’t anticipated.
“I was just exhausted,” Bloom said. “I had no energy or brain power. Just mentally, physically, I was hangry. I was a horrible person to be around.”
The Pirates of the Caribbean star explained that he worked under the guidance of nutritionist Philip Goglia—who also oversaw Christian Bale’s famous physical transformations. At first, the actor was put on a reduced meal plan. But as filming drew closer, the restrictions became more severe
“Suddenly, all these foods were being taken away from me, and my protein powder was the last one,” he recalled. “I was like, ‘No! Don’t take that one.’ Then basically I came down to just tuna and cucumber for the last three weeks.”
The grueling diet had a direct effect on his mental well-being. Bloom admitted he began suffering from “paranoia” and “intrusive thoughts” during the preparation, saying the lack of proper nutrition pushed him to a dark place.
“Turns out you can’t sleep when you’re hungry,” he added. “It’s really a commentary on the lengths a person will go to have that second shot. I think that’s so relatable.”
Despite regular blood monitoring throughout the process, Bloom said the toll on his body was undeniable. He described lying down in between takes on set, only to jump up for push-ups before the cameras rolled so he would appear bulkier on screen.
While athletes often go through weight cuts as part of their careers, Bloom emphasized that actors tend to “take it to the extreme” because of the short time frame leading into a role. He acknowledged that while the results were effective for the film, he does not recommend such drastic methods. “It’s not something to try at home,” he warned.
Bloom’s fiancée, singer Katy Perry, has previously admitted the transformation worried her. In a past interview, she said she feared the health risks were too high, joking that she “thought I was gonna die” watching him endure the process.
For Bloom, however, the challenge was part of the thrill of the project. “I was excited by the challenge of transforming myself,” he told PEOPLE earlier this year. “But it definitely pushed me further than I expected.”
In The Cut, Bloom stars as a disgraced ex-boxer whose career ended in defeat. When he begins training for a comeback, his obsession with redemption spirals into something far more dangerous.
The film, directed by Dominic Savage, hits theatres on September 5.