A weighty Hollywood issue

If you decide to watch “Chapter 27,” the film that I write about in my video column (see page 7), there’s one thing about it that’s likely to shock you.

Jared Leto’s physical presence.

To play Mark David Chapman, the man who murdered John Lennon, Leto reportedly gained 62 pounds. That’s a lot of weight to pack on what normally is a 140-pound frame. Which, of course, is why Leto looks virtually unrecognizable in the role.

If you do any research on other actors who have done something similar, you’re bound to find critics who question the wisdom of such an action.

As one online commentator wrote regarding George Clooney’s 30-pound weight gain for the 2005 film “Syriana,” “To gain 60 or 70 pounds to play a part is crazy as far as I’m concerned. That’s because you’re doing your body real damage. What job is worth this?”

The easy answer, of course, is that none is. Then again, how many of us will ever be in the position of vying for a job that could lead to an Academy Award – as Clooney’s did (playing a burned-out CIA operative in “Syriana” earned him the 2006 Oscar for Best Supporting Actor)?

Though the results are never a sure thing, Clooney and Leto are just two in a long line of actors who have put on weight just to play a movie role.

Robert De Niro gained 60-some pounds to play boxer the aging Jake LaMotta in Martin Scorsese’s 1980 film “Raging Bull.” His reward: A Best Actor Oscar.

Vincent D’Onofrio outdid De Niro by gaining 70 pounds to portray Pvt. Leonard “Gomer Pyle” Lawrence in Stanley Kubrick’s 1987 film “Full Metal Jacket.” Reward: No Oscar (or even a nomination), but he did win the role despite having acted in only two other previous films.

Renee Zellweger put on weight – some say 15, some say 20 pounds – to play the title character in 2001’s “Bridget Jones’ Diary.” Then after taking it all off, she gained it back in time for the sequel, 2004’s “Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason.” Reward: No Oscars but lots of media attention, which helped keep her in the public eye – seldom a bad thing for celebrities (unless, of course, you’re Lindsay Lohan or Britney Spears).

Charlize Theron put on 30 (or so) pounds to portray serial killer Aileen Wuornos in the 2003 film “Monster.” Reward: A Best Actress Oscar.

Other actors have been known for their noticeable weight gains. Some, as with Marlon Brando (who shocked everyone when he showed up to shoot 1979’s “Apocalypse Now”) and Kirstie Alley (who starred in a 2007 mock-reality show titled “Fat Actress”), aren’t intentional.

Others, besides being intentional, involve adding muscle instead of mere fat. Think of Christian Bale bulking up to a sculpted 185 pounds for 2000’s “American Psycho,” losing some 70 pounds to play an emaciated character in 2004’s “The Machinist,” and then gaining at all back for 2005’s “Batman Begins.”

Think of the weight gain/loss/gain (55 pounds) that Tom Hanks went through for 2000’s “Cast Away.” Or Edward Norton (35 pounds) for 1998’s “American History X.”

Of those last five, only Hanks and Norton received nods from Oscar voters. And neither won.

As for Leto, his own efforts have received mixed reviews.

Entertainment Weekly’s Owen Gleiberman wrote that “Leto disappears inside this angry, mouth-breathing psycho geek with a conviction that had me hanging on his every delusion.” Ed Gonzalez, writing for the Village Voice, holds the opposite view: “This misbegotten psychological portrait eagerly foregrounds Leto’s excess blubber and histrionic blather, delivered like bad improv outside the Dakota building.”

There’s a moral here somewhere, though I’m not sure what it is.

It could, though, be as simple as this: that the actors whose weight gain feels right, instead of being just a gimmick, are those who boast the most talent to begin with.