Charlize Theron Was 'Dealing with Depression' after Gaining 50lbs for a $2M Profit Movie
Charlize Theron's name sounds exactly like "great box office revenue." Despite that, this one movie bombed profit-wise even though the actress went through a lot for it.
Even the greatest actors in their peak form can sometimes struggle with their projects and career.
Charlize Theron 's one such example: despite being a world-famous action star for years, when she took on the lead role in a comedy-drama movie, it put her through hell physically and mentally and then bombed.
The movie in question is 2018's Tully where Charlize plays an exhausted mother of three who finally finds a perfect night nanny for her kids after years of extreme sleep deprivation.
The events unfold in a pretty unexpected fashion, and the movie itself is pretty engaging and revealing; still, even Theron's great acting didn't help save it.
Tully came into Charlize's life right after Atomic Blonde where her role was the exact opposite: she admitted that she was feeling at her best after her previous movie, and the news of having to suddenly gain 50lbs for the next project hit her hard.
"I just had finished 'Atomic Blonde' and was in the best shape. I couldn't wait to rock a bikini that summer… Until Jason called," recalls the actress.
Preparing for Tully was one hell of a ride for Charlize Theron. She gained the required 50lbs, but on top of that, she had to also wear a 45lbs fake belly.
Combined, those nearly one hundred extra pounds led Theron to severe back injuries. If this wasn't enough, the actress also found herself in a very dark place mentally.
"[When] I just started feeling like this character, [I] started dealing with depression for the first time in my life," admits Charlize.
Despite that, she also mentions that she was happy to work on Tully as it was an "honest and real" representation of what mothers of young kids have to go through — the experience that she'd had herself.
Apart from all the hardships and joys of starring in Tully, after the production, the actress was left with a dreadful realization: she was then supposed to get back in shape.
It was no easy journey, and it took one and a half years for Charlize to return to the way she was before Tully. But was it all worth it, in the end?
Tully bombed in terms of revenue. The production of the movie cost $13M, and the earnings were just around $15M, turning an underwhelming profit of just $2M.
Still, the critics praised Tully and Theron's performance in it, and the movie's typically listed among the less-known but still great works of the actress.
Source: The Things