Gal Gadot, Demi Moore and 3 other Hollywood actresses who got ripped for movie roles

From Kumail Nanjiani getting shredded for Marvel’s Eternals to Chris Hemsworth going vegan for Thor, there are plenty of examples in Hollywood of men hitting the gym and getting buff for a particular role. In the spirit of fairness – and since this year’s Oscars sought fit to snub female directors – we acknowledge that guys are not the only ones capable of putting on muscle when the job requires. The results may not be so extreme – we suspect because in large part muscular woman don’t fit Hollywood’s view of a traditional silver screen beauty (yet) – but the same dedication is evident.

Here are five of the most prominent examples.

Gal Gadot in Wonder Woman

Gal Gadot was a model before she went into acting, so after she landed the role of Amazonian superhero Wonder Woman, she was required to gain muscle to live up the role. To that end, Gadot spent nine months getting ready for her first outing as the DC Comics hero, in 2016’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice .

Initially, Gadot was unable to do a single pull-up. By the time the cameras were rolling, she had gained 17 pounds “and it’s all muscle”, she remarked. Gadot’s trainers, Mark Twight and Thomas Bradley, wanted her to look believable as Wonder Woman and got her into a routine that included big bouts of rowing, bear crawls, burpees, pull-ups and ring push-ups.

Ahead of Batman v Superman’s release, Gadot told Rolling Stone, “I feel so much better now. When you feel strong, it changes everything – your posture, the way you walk. I look at photos from five years ago and think – whoa, I was too skinny.”

Alicia Vikander in Tomb Raider

If living up to real life beauty standards is tough, try matching up to video game standards. Lara Croft, an idealised female form created in 1996, has been consistently portrayed as something of a female Indiana Jones, an athletic adventuress and treasure hunter.

Following on from Angelina Jolie, Alicia Vikander is the second woman to portray Croft. For the 2018 reboot, Vikander added 10 to 12 pounds of muscle to perform the kind of stunts required to match Croft’s video game exploits.

According to her personal trainer, Magnus Lygdbäck, Vikander started getting in shape seven months before filming began, undertaking the kind routine that only professional athletes follow. Her four-day workout plan focused on legs, chest and shoulders, back and shoulders, and biceps and triceps. Vikander ended up gaining some ripped abs, which hopefully made up for the 4am starts the regimen demanded.