9 Insane Ways Oscar Winners Trained For Movie Blockbusters

3. Russell Crowe's Constantly Yo-Yoing Weight (Body Of Lies & Robin Hood)

If Christian Bale is go-to actor whose weight fluctuates wildly in the pursuit of worthy, arty movies, Russell Crowe is the guy who does it for Hollywood paydays of dubious quality.

For over a decade from the late-90s, the actor's weight went all over the place. He gained 50 pounds for the lead role in Michael Mann's classic thriller The Insider - for which he scored a Best Actor nod - and then worked it all off, before adding plenty of muscle for Ridley Scott's Gladiator a mere year later (which won him the Oscar outright).

Crowe once again got trim for 2005's boxing drama Cinderella Man, but undertook his most dramatic feat of physical transformation in 2007, gaining a jaw-dropping 63 pounds to play CIA spook Ed Hoffman in Scott's thriller Body of Lies.

After Body of Lies wrapped, Crowe weighed a portly 257 pounds and had barely a year to get back into shape for Scott's next movie, Robin Hood, all while shooting two other movies no less. Universal even went to the trouble of installing $160,000 of gym equipment in his luxury trailer for Robin Hood, ensuring he could keep chiselling his physique throughout shooting.

To his credit, Crowe reportedly locked himself in his trailer for several hours a day, working out extensively.

Was It Worth It?: Both Body of Lies and Robin Hood were just OK movies and commercial duds, but Crowe was paid a mental $20 million for the latter. The constant weight yo-yoing can't be good for the man's heart, but money like that ain't to be sniffed at.