9 Insane Ways Oscar Winners Trained For Movie Blockbusters

1. Matt Damon Battled Against Middle-Age (Jason Bourne)

Long before he became a movie mega-star, Matt Damon scooped a Best Original Screenplay Oscar for the classic 1997 drama Good Will Hunting. A few years later, The Bourne Identity shot him to fame as a surprisingly credible action hero, which eventually led to the release of 2016's third direct sequel, Jason Bourne.

Damon has talked extensively about having to workout three hours a day and cut out all of his favourite indulgences for the film's shoot, which featured Bourne at his most rugged and muscular to date.

Damon said, "I was 45 when I did Jason Bourne and guys my age would say, 'What did you do?' I said, 'It’s not worth it! I’m not even going to tell you…it’s no way for any of us to live!'...It just sucks. And then it’s the diet where you’re not really eating anything you want to eat. You’re not having that glass of wine at the end of the day…It’s pretty lame."

This was all at the behest of director Paul Greengrass, who wanted Bourne to look like "somebody who has not had an easy life." Damon reflectively added, "He has to look like he’s suffered, and the only way to look like you’ve suffered is to suffer."

Was It Worth It?: The film itself was the weakest of the four main movies but it was basically fine, and Damon reportedly earned around $25 million for the role. Considering he had just 45 lines of dialogue throughout the film, that amounts to over half-a-million clams per line. If that ain't sweet, what is?

Which of these crazy transformations by Oscar winners surprised you the most? Shout them out in the comments!