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Charlize Theron Explains How She Gained 50 Lbs for New Movie ‘Tully’

Charlize Theron on ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!‘
Charlize Theron on ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!‘Randy Holmes/ABC

Commitment at it’s finest. Charlize Theron spoke candidly about gaining weight for her upcoming project Tully.

The 42-year-old actress opened up about her emotional journey while speaking to Entertainment Tonight on Tuesday, April 17.

Related: Celebrities Who’ve Lost or Gained Weight for Movie Roles

“I gained close to 50 lbs for this film. I wanted to feel what this women felt, and I think that was a way for me to get closer to her and get into that mindset,” Theron explained. “You know, it was a huge surprise to me. I got hit in the face pretty hard with depression. Yeah, for the first time in my life, I was eating so much processed foods and I drank way too much sugar. I was not that fun to be around on this film.”

Charlize Theron in ‘Tully’
Charlize Theron in ‘Tully’ Focus Features

Although the Atomic Blonde star initially enjoyed indulging in treats, she eventually struggled to embrace different eating habits. “The first three weeks are always fun because you’re just, like, a kid in a candy store. So it was fun to go and have breakfast at In-N-Out and have two milkshakes,” she teased. “And then, after three weeks, it’s not fun anymore. Like, all of a sudden you’re just done eating that amount and then it becomes a job. I remember having to set my alarm in the middle of the night in order to just maintain [the weight].”

Related: Celebrities’ Weight Loss and Transformations: Before and After Pictures

Added the Oscar winner: “I would literally wake up at two in the morning and I’d have a cup of cold macaroni and cheese just next to me. I would wake up and I would just eat it. I would just, like, shove it in my throat. It’s hard to maintain that weight.”

Theron noted that her son Jackson, 6, and daughter, August, 2, didn’t know what to make of her altered appearance. “My little one was convinced that I had a baby in my belly. I had a very similar moment with my older one. Like, in the film, where she saw my body one day and was like, ‘Mom, what has happened to your body?’ It was a little too close to home,” The Monster actress admitted. “I shared it with [director] Jas[on Reitman] and I was, like, ‘This is a little too real for me.’ And [my kids] still refer to this move as the movie where mommy had a big belly. There’s nothing fun about that.”

It took a year and a half for The Huntsman star to shed the weight. “It was a long journey, very long journey. And it’s hard because I had press junkets and movies around it and nobody knew that I had done it for this,” she revealed, later explaining that her peers thought she was wearing prosthetics. Theron also explained that a doctor helped her lose the weight in a healthy manner, although she was “worried” because it was “taking a really long time.”

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At the end of the day, Theron has no regrets about her experience. “The struggle is real for everybody. What’s beautiful about this film, it’s unifying,” she raved. “It makes you realize that nobody has it easier than you or they don’t experience any of those things. It’s messy.”

Tully hits theaters on Friday, May 4.

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