Charlize Theron’s Tully role required her to consume processed food and sugar extensively which adversely affected her mental health

Charlize Theron’s Tully explored the relationship between a mother of three and her night nanny. Theron played the role of a postpartum mother, taking up the challenging task of gaining nearly 50 pounds. The Atomic Blonde actress underwent extreme struggles in gaining weight and then losing it.
Mackenzie Davis and Charlize Theron in Tully
Theron was nominated for a Golden Globe for her performance as the character of Marlo. Tully followed two other films surrounding womanhood, Juno and Young Adult, from the same pair of director Jason Reitman and writer Diablo Cody.

Charlize Theron’s Weight Gain For Tully Was A Daunting Process

Charlize Theron as Marlo in Tully
Charlize Theron opened up about her incredible physical transformation for the film Tully. While many initially believed that Theron used a body suit or prosthetics to portray the character, she later revealed to Entertainment Tonight that she actually gained 50 pounds for the role. Unfortunately, Theron’s physical transformation came at the cost of her mental well-being.

She revealed that she had only three and a half months to gain weight. While initially, it was fun for the Bombshell actress to eat anything possible and have breakfast and two milkshakes at In-N-Out, the process slowly turned daunting for her. It was the first time for the actress to consume so much processed food and sugar.

She intended to feel what her character felt and get closer to the pregnant woman’s mindset. However, she experienced severe depression from the transformation. The Mad Max: Fury Road actress shared with ET:

“I gained close to 50 pounds for this film. I just I wanted to feel what this woman felt, and I think that was a way for me to get closer to her and get into that mindset. You know, it was a huge surprise to me. I got hit in the face pretty hard with depression. Yeah, for the first time in my life I was eating so much processed foods and I drank way too much sugar. I was not that fun to be around on this film.”

Not only did she have to deal with her mental struggles, but Theron also needed to answer her children about what was happening to her body. The Devil’s Advocate actress revealed that at the time, her 6-year-old and 2-year-old daughters believed that she had a baby in her belly. She added that her children still refer to the film as the one where mommy had a big belly.

Charlize Theron Vowed To Never Commit To Another Role Like Tully

Charlize Theron struggled to lose the weight she had gained for Tully
Losing all the weight she gained for Tully turned out to be a hell of a task for Charlize Theron. She revealed to ET that it took about a year and a half to return to her normal physical self after the film. In an interview with Allure, she revealed that she would never commit to a role where she had to gain considerable weight. She shared with Allure:

“I will never, ever do a movie again and say, ‘Yeah, I’ll gain 40 pounds.’ I will never do it again because you can’t take it off.”

She also shared the difference in experience when she did it for Monster and Tully. For her Oscar-winning movie, she was just 27 at the time and could easily return to her normal weight. However, during Tully, she was 43 and found it a lot harder to lose weight. Her doctor said to her, “You’re over 40. Calm down. Your metabolism is not what it was.” Theron shared that she did not want to hear that from her doctor.

Tully is now available for streaming on Netflix.