When a star like Seth Rogen transforms their body to improve their health, fans tend to be fascinated by how they did it. On the other hand, when an actor drops an unhealthy amount of weight for a role, the media often doesn't care for too long.
During the early 2010s, the actor Domhnall Gleeson of Star Wars fame lost lots of weight to prepare to make a movie titled Unbroken.
At the time, it was revealed that Gleeson's weight loss was so severe that his eyes actually changed size. With that in mind, it begs an obvious question, did Gleeson's eyes return to normal after he gained the weight?
Why Did Domhnall Gleeson Lose A Staggering Amount Of Weight?
As an actor, Angelina Jolie has starred in so many hit movies that she is widely considered to be one of her generation's top movie stars. On top of the financial success that Jolie's movies have enjoyed, she has also received a great deal of acclaim and accolades for her performances.
Despite everything Jolie achieved as an actor, her personal life often receives more attention than anything else. Since the media obsesses over Jolie's dating life and the relationship she has with her children, many of her fans don't know what she has largely focused her career on in recent years.
Since 2011, Jolie has produced eleven different films, including the Maleficent movies that grossed more than $1.2 billion combined at the box office. Jolie has also written the script for four films that she produced during those same years.
Most notably, Jolie has directed six movies to date. In 2014, one of the movies that Jolie directed titled Unbroken was released. On top of being directed by Jolie, Unbroken's script was also co-written by two of the most celebrated screenwriters of all time, the Coen brothers.
A biographical war drama that told a truly incredible story, Unbroken focused on Louis Zamperini. A former runner who competed at the 1936 Berlin Olympics and set a new lap record, Zamperini later enlisted in the U.S. Army after they began fighting in World War II.
While flying over the Pacific Ocean, the plane Zamperini was in crashed into the water. After surviving the crash, Zamperini and his companion Russell "Phil" Phillips survived adrift at sea in a raft for a staggering 47 days.
When Zamperini and Phillips finally were discovered, they were found and captured by the Japanese who sent them to a POW camp. As the film Unbroken depicts, Zamperini then became the target of a particularly cruel guard at the camp.
When Jolie decided to direct Unbroken, she took on a mammoth task. As a relatively inexperienced director at the time, Jolie had to film scenes at sea, at a POW camp, and she had to recreate the Olympics.
Of course, Jolie was far from the only one who had to put a lot of work into making Unbroken a reality. Since Jack O'Connell was cast as Zamperini and Gleeson brought Phillips to life, both actors had to completely transform themselves.
After initially getting themselves into great shape to believably portray soldiers, O'Connell and Gleeson then had to become incredibly thin. As anyone who has seen Unbroken will be able to attest, both actors lost a staggering amount of weight.
What Mind-Blowing Side Effect Did Domhnall Gleeson Suffer From Losing So Much Weight?
Months before Unbroken was released, Domhnall Gleeson was already talking to the press about his weight loss. While promoting his 2013 movie About Time, Gleeson told HuffPost Entertainment that his weight loss was affecting him mentally.
"I'm a little bit drifty. I'm a little bit all over the place." Considering that Gleeson brought up how he was feeling, it makes sense that HuffPost Entertainment wanted to know how much weight he lost. However, when he was asked to give a number, Gleeson made it clear he didn't think it was about that.
"We're not really putting numbers on it, but it's a sizable amount. I've lost a sizable amount and we're losing even more. The world can get a little bit blurry."
By the time Gleeson was making the rounds promoting Unbroken, he spoke to HuffPost Entertainment about what he went through making the movie. While Gleeson wanted to make it clear that making Unbroken was hard, he also spoke about how rewarding it was. "It was a great experience. A tough one but a great one."
Gleeson also revealed a behind-the-scenes fact about the making of Unbroken. As Gleeson explained he was fitted for contact lenses before they began shooting Unbroken. The reason for that is Gleeson's character needed to have bloodshot eyes when he was lost at sea.
"Toward the end, getting toward the dehydration phase, I had to wear these contact lenses, because their eyes were red."
Of course, an actor wearing contact lenses for a role is extremely common, so it doesn't seem like Gleeson having to wear them is newsworthy. However, the amazing part of Gleeson having to wear contact lenses is they didn't fit by the time they were filming the scenes at sea.
"My contact lenses stopped fitting my eyes, because I was so dehydrated and had lost so much weight that everything had changed. But we were still trying to screw them in there," Since Gleeson's eyes shrunk because of how dehydrated he was, it seems safe to assume they reverted once he got the fluids his body needed.
Gleeson went on to reveal that things got so hard making Unbroken that he actually can't remember parts of the filming. "You were hungry and overworked and physically and mentally exhausted -- so then it got to the place where it wasn't much fun. Angie reminded me of it. I had forgotten totally. I've shut out some of the experience."
When Unbroken was released, the movie did decent business as it reportedly cost $65 million to make and made roughly $163 million at the box office. Sadly, the movie has mostly been forgotten since its release which is frustrating to know considering what Gleeson went through.
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