Orlando Bloom has opened up about dropping 52 pounds for his latest film, "The Cut," saying that he thought at one point he was "going to die."
In the Sean Ellis film, Bloom, 47, plays a boxer on the edge of breaking down as he desperately tries to drop weight before a crucial fight. Guided by a dubious coach, played by John Turturro, Bloom's character goes to dangerous lengths to lose the pounds, even as it threatens his life. The film was shot in reverse chronological order, with Bloom bulking up during production.
"I basically tiered down the food over a three-month period until just before filming, [when] I was at my lightest. I dropped 52 pounds, and I was about 185 when I started," Bloom told Variety. "So I dropped quite a lot of weight, and I was very mentally challenged as well. You feed somebody tuna and cucumber long enough …"
The actor went on to elaborate on the mental challenges he faced during filming, saying that it caught him off guard.
"I was more surprised about the mental aspect of [it], like the sleep deprivation, and not the depleted calories," he said. "There’s a lot going on in your brain … living in that headspace for a while was very challenging."
Bloom also revealed his fiancée's, Katy Perry's reaction to the film, telling People that she was "freaked out."
"She watched it and was like, ‘I need a stiff drink,'" he recalled.
"She was there throughout, with the kids and stuff," said Bloom of Perry, 39. The couple share daughter Daisy Dove, whom they welcomed in 2020. Bloom also shares son Flynn Christopher Blanchard Copeland with his ex-wife Miranda Kerr. "It's hard for your family," he added.
Caitriona Balfe, who stars alongside Bloom in "The Cut" as his character's wife and trainer, agreed.
"You can do stuff like that when you're on your own, it's one thing about being single," she said. "We were all younger before we had families [and] you can kind of throw yourself into something. But when you have to come home, and you have to be a parent."
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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