Courtesy of Keith Bernstein/Warner Bros, AP
Acclaimed actor Bradley Cooper, otherwise known as Chris Kyle in the newly released film American Sniper, had to gain 40 pounds of muscle to accurately portray his character as a Navy SEAL. This movie featured the true story of real life sniper Chris Kyle, who was tragically killed in 2013 by a veteran whom Chris was trying to help at the time. Chris Kyle is said to be the deadliest sniper in American history with a total of 160 confirmed kills during his four tours in Iraq.
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Cooper, at a normal weight of 185 pounds, told Men’s Health magazine, “I had to get to the point where I believed I was him. At 185 pounds, it would’ve been a joke. His size was such a part of who he was…Chris wasn’t ripped. He wasn’t sinewy. He was just a bear.” To get his weight up to 225 pounds in just a short 10 weeks, Cooper had to intake more than 5,000-6,000 calories every day, eating roughly every 55 minutes. Cooper expressed, “It was a real shock to my body. If it’s pizza and cake, that’s one thing. Putting 6,000 calories a day in your body gets old quick.” In addition to a strict diet, he also had to physically train two times per day. Men’s Health described how Cooper revamped his body in such a short amount of time:
“In the first workout, beginning at 5 a.m., they focused on structural exercises like dead-lifts and squats to build a foundation solid enough to hold the extra mass. The second workout, late in the afternoon, was more focused on traditional muscle-building exercises. Cooper needed both types of training to convincingly portray Chris Kyle.”
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Additionally, the writer/producer of American Sniper, Jason Hall, told People magazine that Cooper “was determined to do it naturally, he didn’t want to use any hormones or steroids or anything. He was just very systematic about it and took his trainer with him wherever he went.” Cooper told Men’s Health, “I knew this was going to be the way in to playing Chris, and it felt amazing. It’s also nice to know it’s possible to do it naturally, in that amount of time.”
Featured image courtesy of Keith Bernstein/Warner Bros
