George Clooney, Joaquin Phoenix, Charlize Theron and 2 other Hollywood stars whose weight loss or gain affected their mental health

Celebrities often say how hard it is for them to constantly be in the spotlight, but the unending pressure to look thin, fit and beautiful often adds to their stress level. Which may explain why – when asked to gain or lose a lot of weight for a role – actors often grapple with mental health issues before, during and after production. Here are five celebrities who have undergone dramatic physical changes for roles and how those changes affected their emotional well-being.

Charlize Theron

The Oscar-winning actress is known for taking on challenging and impressive roles, such as her Best Actress-winning performance of Aileen Wuornos in the film Monster. Theron gained 30 pounds (13.6kg) to look like the prostitute-turned-serial-murderer, but when she had to gain another 50 pounds to play a mother dealing with postpartum depression in the film Tully, the actress admits her mental health took a toll as well as her body.

“I got hit in the face pretty hard with depression,” she told Entertainment Tonight. “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. 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.”

Chris Pratt

Pratt played the sexy lead character Owen Grady in Jurassic World, but before that he weighed close to 300 pounds for his role as Andy Dwyer on Parks and Recreation. Being so overweight affected not only his mental health but his marriage to actress Anna Faris (whom he has since divorced). He told Men’s Health UK: “I was impotent, fatigued, emotionally depressed. I had real health issues that were affecting me in a major way. It's bad for your heart, your skin, your system, your spirit.”

  Joaquin Phoenix