14 DAY TRIAL // Proving that it's not just women who are under a lot of pressure in Hollywood to always look good, Jason Segel admits that he too was ordered to lose weight to play Emily Blunt's fiancé in “The Five-Year Engagement.”
The star, who is currently dating Michelle Williams, made the admission in a recent interview with David Letterman to promote the romantic comedy, now playing in theaters in various territories.
He points out that, while the order came from high up, it did not lack proper justification, Us Weekly informs.
Basically, movie studio bosses wanted him to be as believable as possible in the role of Emily Blunt's boyfriend and future husband.
“I was forced to lose weight for this movie. It was by the studio president! I was told it had to be conceivable that Emily Blunt would ever choose me to be her husband, which I think is fair enough! I had to lose a good 35lbs [15.8 kg],” he says.
Of course, he also got proper assistance in his battle against the bulge, with the same suits providing him with a trainer to work out with, who would also monitor his meals.
“I didn't enjoy it but they sent a trainer to set and I had to work out twice a day and he would also watch me eat all day,” Jason explains.
He still found ways to cheat though.
“What they didn't anticipate is that I'm very clever and I play a chef in the movie, so there were a lot of scenes in which I had to eat,” the actor jokes.
“So I paid my co-stars phenomenal amounts of money to mess up their lines during the scenes and I'd get to keep eating!” Jason goes on to say.
Even though that last part is probably a joke, he's probably not kidding about getting in better shape for the role: it's plain to see that he's lost a few pounds.