While transforming into real-life boxer-turned-priest Father Stuart Long, all Mark Wahlberg had to do was eat… and eat… and eat for a month and a half. It was "not a lot of fun."
"I had six weeks to put on about 30 pounds. I started with 7,000 calories for the first two weeks and then 11,000 calories for the final four weeks," The "Father Stu" star told Entertainment Tonight.
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"None of it was fun, except for the first meal was amazing, because I hadn't eaten anything up until that point. But after that, when you're already full and you have to eat again, and at my age it's just not a healthy thing to do, to try to put on that kind of weight in that amount of time," he added.
Not only was Mark putting on weight via food, he also began drinking olive oil by the glass every day.
"I wasn't eating anything that you would think, 'Oh my God, I get to sit on the couch and eat ice cream and pizzas,'" he explained. "… I tried to do it in a healthy way. It was a dozen eggs and a dozen pieces of bacon, two baked potatoes, a Porterhouse steak, two bowls of white rice, and a glass of olive oil. The first two weeks were high proteins. The second two weeks were a lot of carbs. The last two weeks starches, and then sodium, just to kind of get as bloated as possible. So not a lot of fun."
Still, Mark continued his infamous morning gym sessions while preparing for "Father Stu."
"I had to get up the appetite, so I would go in there and try to lift as heavy as possible just to get hungry," he said. "And then I'd have the weight gainer shakes as well and all that stuff. But none of it was fun. There's nothing worse than when you're full from the last meal and you have to eat again."
In the end, Mark said it was worth it, as he's thrilled with the outcome of the movie. Plus, he sees similarities between him and the real Father Long.
"We both had very difficult childhood upbringing, both kind of searching for our calling, and, I think, both kind of getting to a place where we wanted to do more good and serve God, and certainly appreciating all the blessings that have been bestowed upon me," Wahlberg said. "… Now having me continue to echo his message and take that responsibility on myself after the film is over to continue to do more substantial work, and continue to bring people together and promote a message of hope and faith."
