With the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) and the never ending list of heroes popping out every day Super Heroes and relative actors are getting more popular by the day.
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We went off topic enough so let’s talk about the main subject: how can normal actors can turn to super heroes: special effects? Long months of preparation? dedicated and big lookalike?
A mix of everything but most of the time actors are capable of incredible body-transformations. We leave the “how” part to the article Super Hero Online Personal Trainer (our sponsor) but trust me: everything is possible.
The majority of the actors are physically and financially able to transform their body for a special role. Most of them have natural good genetic that allows them to make even a better transformation: take for example Chris Hemsworth … we all know is a good looking guy (along with the brothers) with a very athletic natural physique (he was a model before starting the acting career) … but from there to become the mighty god of thunder Thor packing I don’t know how many pounds of muscles … but he made it following a very strict diet and a very complex workout. Same comes for the Wolverine, Henry Cavill playing the Man of Steel (Superman) and many many others.
Now: not all are genetically born for being a superhero but they made it with even more discipline:
first example of all is Chris Pratt in Guardians of The Galaxy: Chris always been a kind of chubby and funny office guy, but with the right coach, the right diet, the right discipline, the right workout and the right body-doubles he nailed it big times.
Yes I mentioned BODY DOUBLES, and most likely not because CGI can “implant” the actor’s head on another better body but because if the actor looks good his body-double must look even better! And trust me I learned a lot on this field.
Not to mention that many back shots or quick and/or far shots are realized not by the real actor but by the body-double to speed up the operations and the production of the movie.
Because body-double (or stunt -double) don’t have really the same luxury to afford just a single movie per year they must be quite fit year around, at least at the 80% of their best. When I broke my neck I wanted to switch to acting and modeling not because I was scared but because any preparation could take me much longer than what it was needed by contract!
Another point must be mentioned: beside the general bigger look that an actor must give in a super-hero movie how many real scenes you actually will need the so called “wow effect”? How many close shots shirtless scenes can you see in a movie? Not so many trust me: for these scenes the main actor must reach his peak level (a bit like a peak time for a competitor bodybuilder), he gets everything he can to look more vascular and he gets pumped up every time the camera is off. All the other scenes? Have a guess: that’s why they call them body doubles 😉
It’s very rare that CGI completely changes the shape of an actor, sometimes special lenses might be used but is quite rare, why? Because Body-Double are in the scene.
Nowadays there is a special elite of actors that must be able and must accept and be proud to transform their body and, judging from the box office results … all the sweat and all the training will pay off indeed!
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