Superhero Steroids

[Tony Stark]

This is something I've wondered about with Hollywood for a long time. This article talks about Thor and Captain America (as the article was written in 2011), but it most recently came to mind when I saw a picture of Tom Hardy as Bane and you could see he had a ton of back acne (a tell tale sign of steroid use)

Again, this is not to accuse anyone or write anyone off, but the pressure on actors to conform to these Herculean body sizes with limited time between projects, steroids and HGH seems like a natural outlet for an actor to use.

I just hope these actors are trying to be safe about this, because between actors like Natalie Portman and Christian Bale starving themselves half to death for a roll, or guys like Hemsworth and Hardy having to make themselves look like Goliaths, they could run into some serious heath issues.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/aug/24/peds-find-their-role-in-hollywood/

 

[EML420]

I think it might have been easier for Hemsworth he was already a big dude but im suprised this is something that is barley getting noticed.

 

[Majik1387]

Some characters, I feel it's fine for the crew/costumers to use padding/muscle suits, despite the stupid complaints from fanboys. However, they shouldn't be lazy with them just because the suit is made with muscles. They need to shade/paint/contort the muscle suit and costume so it looks believable on the actor for the character they played. I've been thinking about a minor altering of Juggernaut's X3 costume that would have looked better had they taken an ounce more time on it.

 

[Breogan]

 

[Bruce Malone]

It's a well known dirty secret in hollywood. You hear actors talk about putting on 30 pounds in 3-4 months and then on talk shows they talk about how much chicken they ate, come on.

I'm not sure how i feel about it personally? they are technically not competing like athletes are but it is a very unhealthy thing, although they probably have the best "doctors" or whatever to administer it.

 

[TheVileOne]

LOL, in the Batman sequels Bale never looked that big. In fact we rarely if ever even saw him shirtless. He looked pretty thin and gaunt in Dark Knight at least.

I think Hemsworth worked out for six months with a personal trainer to get his look as Thor, so I doubt he juiced.

But for example, wasn't Stallone recently detained at an airport carrying all sorts of roids or something? I mean a guy in his sixties looking that jacked and blown-up in Rocky Balboa, Rambo 4, and Expendables? Doesn't seem healthy or believable.

Never noticed Hardy with the backne. I mean Hollywood is no stranger to drug use, wouldn't surprise me if some actors are getting their hands on stuff to help themselves look better for roles. And remember not all steroids make you look big. Some just make you look more cut and toned.

 

[Tony Stark]

This is the one I saw on Hardy. He's one I've wondered about for a while if you saw how he looked in Warrior.

Again, not saying these guys did or didn't. I'm just curious and it really doesn't get talked about much outside of sports. In sports I understand there's the cheating aspect which doesn't apply here, but if any of these guys are juicing I hope they consider the health effects.

 

[Majik1387]

To be fair, that can also be an allergic outbreak to his costume.

 

[Bruce Malone]

LOL, in the Batman sequels Bale never looked that big. In fact we rarely if ever even saw him shirtless. He looked pretty thin and gaunt in Dark Knight at least.

Did you see the film? Bane looked f'ing massive but that was mainly due to camera angles and his presence.

When he shirtless in the film he looked so much bigger than in that still that was released. I have to give kudos to nolan for the amazing camera perspectives he used. Bane was a beast.

But this has nothing to do with the roid debate.



-edit- I read Bale as Bane my apologies.

 

[Brian Braddock]

LOL, in the Batman sequels Bale never looked that big. In fact we rarely if ever even saw him shirtless. He looked pretty thin and gaunt in Dark Knight at least.

I actually feel that's a bit of a myth - there was a shirtless scene in TDK [in the bunker] where Bale looked really close to how he looked in BB in regards to mass; the only difference was that he'd got those awesome cheekbones back and his face was thinner than it was in BB, thus people kinda assumed that he wasnt as big. He was, it was just he'd lost that facial puffiness that his BB post Machinist crash weight gain gave him.

I think Hemsworth worked out for six months with a personal trainer to get his look as Thor, so I doubt he juiced.

May have taken HGH, but.........

But for example, wasn't Stallone recently detained at an airport carrying all sorts of roids or something? I mean a guy in his sixties looking that jacked and blown-up in Rocky Balboa, Rambo 4, and Expendables? Doesn't seem healthy or believable.

It is healthy and believable - Stallone got caught with HGH, illegal in Australia but legal and readilly supplied by doctors in other countries to combat old-age and back problems. That's not to say it cant be abused [it would be immensly niiave to think otherwise] but it's certainly not in any way to be confused with steroids as they just arent in the same catagory.

Never noticed Hardy with the backne. I mean Hollywood is no stranger to drug use, wouldn't surprise me if some actors are getting their hands on stuff to help themselves look better for roles. And remember not all steroids make you look big. Some just make you look more cut and toned.

I'd say it's pretty much a certainty - look at Charlie Sheen for Hot Shots II, now that was definately steroids as opposed to HGH. There was probably a muscle hardener in there too. Hell, you know what - all in all I say if they want to do it - why not? Theyre adults and perfectly capable of making a reasoned decision and making up their own minds. As someone said earlier, theyre not atheltes and there's nothing to differenciate them from the guy down the gym taking a course of dianabol.

 

[TheVileOne]

That shot in Dark Knight was a behind shot and we never saw Bale's face in the shot. Could've been a body double for all I know.

 

[Baramos]

I'm pretty sure Tom Hardy has been pretty up-front about his use of steroids to bulk up for the role, or at least it's rather obvious he did. Actors basically have to in order to achieve that kind of muscle-mass without years of training. Do you think Christian Bale went from the lean wiry role he had in The Machinist to the bulked up Bruce Wayne in Batman Begins without using some steroids to achieve that kind of transformation?

It's not really about "pressure", it's just about the logistics of Hollywood. It's not the kind of ethical or moral question that it is in sports or body building or whatever. These are people playing roles and they often have to do things like take steroids, starve themselves, etc. to meet the demands of the various characters they play. As long as they monitor their steroid use properly with medical doctors to avoid long-term health effects, they can often avoid the kind of damage to themselves that happens with athletes and others who have to keep it secret from the world by virtue of it being cheating.

 

[Brian Braddock]

Actually, such was the state of Bale after the Machinist I can honestly see a situation where a doctor has actually presbribed him the steroids to get his health back in check. I dunno how it is in the states, but I know people [here in the U.K.] who have had various ailments over the years and have been prescribed a course of steroids in response. I always joke that they should give me some of them...........

 

[Lantern Venom]

This is something I've wondered about with Hollywood for a long time. This article talks about Thor and Captain America (as the article was written in 2011), but it most recently came to mind when I saw a picture of Tom Hardy as Bane and you could see he had a ton of back acne (a tell tale sign of steroid use)

Again, this is not to accuse anyone or write anyone off, but the pressure on actors to conform to these Herculean body sizes with limited time between projects, steroids and HGH seems like a natural outlet for an actor to use.

I just hope these actors are trying to be safe about this, because between actors like Natalie Portman and Christian Bale starving themselves half to death for a roll, or guys like Hemsworth and Hardy having to make themselves look like Goliaths, they could run into some serious heath issues.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/aug/24/peds-find-their-role-in-hollywood/

They can try, but there isn't any safe way to 'roid. Even when it's used as a treatment, it's a last resort. It can be toxic to the internal organs and spur psychological issues in a short period of time.

I hope guys are putting on muscle naturally because it can indeed be done. However, Hollywood doesn't have the greatest track record when it comes to health, so there has to be a few guys risking it for success.

 

[Baneis8feettall]

Acne problem =/= steroids.

Maybe he took too much supply etc. or he ate too much junk food to gain weight.These guys already had fit bodies and went through heavy training with good trainers. I don't think they used steroids.

None of them look like beasts like bodybuilders. More like fit guys went gym and did everything trainers said to get bigger.

Transformation isn't impossible.. It's really takes determination and knowledge about what you eat, how you train. I have seen people looked like from "300" after 4 months of good training.

 

[Cobblepot]

It's a well known dirty secret in hollywood. You hear actors talk about putting on 30 pounds in 3-4 months and then on talk shows they talk about how much chicken they ate, come on.

I'm not sure how i feel about it personally? they are technically not competing like athletes are but it is a very unhealthy thing, although they probably have the best "doctors" or whatever to administer it.

I'm not saying they arent using, but in may I was 178.5 pounds, i've been hitting the gym for 3 months (3 days a week, bodysplit) and now I weigh in at 200.6 pounds, so it is possible witthout steriods and I'm at virtually the same bodyfat percentage.

 

[Brian Braddock]

Acne problem =/= steroids.

Maybe he took too much supply etc. or he ate too much junk food to gain weight.These guys already had fit bodies and went through heavy training with good trainers. I don't think they used steroids.

None of them look like beasts like bodybuilders. More like fit guys went gym and did everything trainers said to get bigger.

Transformation isn't impossible.. It's really takes determination and knowledge about what you eat, how you train. I have seen people looked like from "300" after 4 months of good training.

While I agree to an extent as, granted, back acne can be demonstrative of steroids it isnt conclusive of use - I mean, if a guy naturally puts on size and wants to show it off but is overly hairy and has back waxed, there's always the possibility of a skin reaction or a eaction to the sun because of the sensitivity of the skin, causing it to flare up; that can cause acne.

 

[Majik1387]

The backne again, can also be caused by the costume. The jacket Hardy wears as Bane is most likely not supposed to be worn with such skin contact.

 

[Project862006]

it is what it is comic fans want their heroes big but dont want to know how they get there and just want to truly believe it was hard work and lifting lol

and hemsworth he was big not that big

Before Thor - Cash - 2009 shoot

Thor - 2010 Shoot

 

[chamber-music]

I'm pretty sure Hardy bulked up cleanly.


Tom Hardy was wearing a fur lined coat, a sweater and padded body armor in the middle of summer filming The Dark Knight Rises he could of just got back acne from that. Many actors including Bale, Hemsworth and Scarlett Johansson have all talked about how hot they are in their costumes and how sweaty they get.


Hardy's buddy Pnut (Patrick Monroe) is his personal trainer who was an ex-marine and they were together almost all the time until recently when they fell out.

Hardy and Pnut talking about and doing training
[YT]VJ0lHEd9Eyg[/YT]

Hardy has talked in detail about his training numerous times

Hardy’s trainer, Pnut, has a simple but unorthodox method for bulking fast. “I call my philosophy ‘signalling’,” he says. “Throughout the day you need to send constant signals to your body, so that it adapts in the direction you point it in. It’s better to do 10 press-ups every hour than 100 in a single burst. If you do things often enough, your body adapts for the task you set it, and you evolve.”

Pnut recommends performing these exercises four times a day – when you wake up, at lunchtime, when you get home from work and before bed. It should only take about 20 minutes, but don’t rush. Use light weights and move slowly through the exercises, concentrating on perfect form. Start by doing it in the morning and evening, and then gradually add the other sessions in.

If you want to pile on muscle as soon as possible, you’re going to have to get used to working out little but often. “Remember,” says Pnut, “there are no shortcuts.”

“When it came to conditioning my body for the role of Charles Bronson there was no official regime: I did very non-specific exercises such as press ups, push ups, abs work and resistance training with the help of my boy Pnut, who is 16 stone of pure muscle and also an ex-US Marine.

Essentially I was using him as my machine; he was like a walking gym. My approach was to do a lot of repetitions in order to send messages to my muscles: this helps them start to grow in a way that you can’t make them in the gym.

To achieve dense muscle, you need a specific kind of training. Also, to “become” Charlie Bronson I had to quickly put a lot of weight quickly on my forearms, chest and neck. By the time I’d finished, my legs looked like those of a stork in comparison to the top half of my body.”

More on P-NuT’s work with Tom for Bronson and his training philosophy.

He worked with Patrick Monroe, a personal trainer in Kentish Town, north London, with whom he had become friends when working on the film Waz two years ago. Mr Monroe said: “We didn’t have a lot of time. The one thing we had going for us is that he had to look like a brawler, so the kind of size we had to put on had to symbolise the kind of exercise that you do in prison in a solitary environment.” Hardy, 31, ate a diet of about 4,000 calories a day and did a lot of resistance work using the floor and his own body weight. He spent three to four hours a day doing dips on chairs and push-ups with his feet elevated to different positions to vary the resistance. Mr Monroe, 39, said: “If you do normal push-ups, you are working the pectoral – the chest – muscles at an even level. The higher you lift your legs, the higher the area in the pecs you work.” He added a small amount of work with the kettlebell, a metal ball with a handle, to develop the shoulders. ”Eastern Europeans and Russians use it a lot and it’s become much more fashionable in the West,” he said.

There was no particular diet apart from creatine, a supplement that feeds muscles. ”He needed to look like a brawler so we didn’t worry too much about how much fat there was. We just loaded up the calories – he barely had time to breathe, we were feeding his face full of food.” Hardy put on two and a half stone to reach around 14 stone for the part. Mr Monroe said the actor was naturally athletic, but added that anyone could train. ”It doesn’t take long to build muscle, it’s just most people do it incorrectly,” he said. In addition to stimulus and nutrition, the body needs rest. “You do your growing in your rest period.”

 

[chamber-music]

Chris Hemsworth was pretty skinny pre-Cabin In The Woods. Check him out in aussie soap Home & Away.

Stallone has talked about the fact he takes steriods although he does workout alot as well.

Christain Bale gave an interview a years ago when he said he became a bit of a gym addict while working out for American Psycho.

Henry Cavill and Gerard Butler both trained with Mark Dwight owner of Gym Jones.

 

[pr0xyt0xin]

even Hardy's diet leading up to this film could have added to that. You cant put on that much bulk on a fruit and veggies diet. I'm sure he downed a lot of sugar, sodium and oils.

I won't say one way or another. But I wont accuse the guy just for having acne on his back.

 

[DoomsdayApex]

Hardy didn't take steroids to bulk up. He had 3-4 months to add 25 lbs of mass. That's hardly 'impossible' to do. I mean, this isn't the first time Tom got massive for a movie role either. Incidentally, Hardy was far from skinny during the filming of Inception, so the PED talk (due to backache) is a bit of a stretch.

 

[Moridin]

it is what it is comic fans want their heroes big but dont want to know how they get there and just want to truly believe it was hard work and lifting lol

and hemsworth he was big not that big

Before Thor - Cash - 2009 shoot

Thor - 2010 Shoot

A bit disingenuous on your part, no? Hemsworth was cast as Thor mid-May 2009 while shooting Cabin, pretty sure Cash was filmed before that. Either way, Thor didn't start shooting until early 2010, he had a full 9 months to bulk up before production even started.

Hardy didn't take steroids to bulk up. He had 3-4 months to add 25 lbs of mass. That's hardly 'impossible' to do. I mean, this isn't the first time Tom got massive for a movie role either. Incidentally, Hardy was far from skinny during the filming of Inception, so the PED talk (due to backache) is a bit of a stretch.

Indeed, muscle memory and all that. Was Warrior the biggest Hardy had ever gotten?

Incidentally, Inception was filmed after Warrior.

Actually the muscle memory thing goes for Bale, too. His Machinist physique wasn't exactly his normal look.

 

[DoomsdayApex]

Indeed, muscle memory and all that. Was Warrior the biggest Hardy had ever gotten?

Incidentally, Inception was filmed after Warrior.

Actually the muscle memory thing goes for Bale, too. His Machinist physique wasn't exactly his normal look.

Actually, Hardy himself confirmed that his physique for TDKR was the biggest its ever been, which explains his 'doughy' appearance at Pittsburgh. Unlike Warrior, where he had 5-6 months of weight training and 9 months of MMA training, Tom only had half that time to get ready.

Yep, Tom was fresh off of the Warrior shoot when he signed on to do Inception. There were set pics of Hardy walking around on-set with an unbuttoned shirt, and he wasn't exactly thin. Tom, unmistakably, was ripped.

Bale too. As I recall, Bale got massive for Batman Begins (so much so that he had to lose 5-10 lbs of mass).