Now that’s dedication. After piling on weight for a role in his new film, The Nice Guys, Russell Crowe has been working hard to get fit again. The actor, 51, opened up about his dramatic weight loss on Australia’s Fitzy & Wippa radio show on Thursday, March 17.
“I was [268 pounds] the first week of August last year,” he said. “I did a movie called The Nice Guys, so I wanted to be the physical juxtaposition of Ryan Gosling.”
“I’m clawing my way back from that, so I’m about [216 pounds] at the moment,” he added. All told, the Oscar winner — an avid biker — has dropped 52 pounds since last summer. Back in February, the dad of two showed off his svelte frame in a tight black tank top.
The Australian star has been known to gain and lose weight depending on what role he plays. Before wowing audiences with his ripped physique in 2000’s Gladiator, Crowe had to quickly lose the poundage he packed on to play Big Tobacco exec Jeffrey Wigand in 1999’s The Insider.
Although his waistline expanded to portray private eye Jackson Healy in The Nice Guys, Crowe said he had a great time starring opposite the hard-bodied Gosling, 35, in the mystery crime comedy film set in the ’70s.
“That kid is a comic genius,” he raved of the heartthrob. “He is great company, he is really smart, he loves what he does and he asks all the right questions. Working with him was such a treat.”
The Nice Guys hits theaters May 20.
