Take that, Matthew McConaughey!
According to People, Mark Wahlberg lost an astonishing 61 pounds for the upcoming movie "The Gambler." Fellow actor Matthew McConaughey famously shed 50 pounds for the "Dallas Buyers Club" - a performance that earned him a coveted Oscar trophy.
Perhaps Wahlberg will receive similar acclaim for his role as a literature professor who is addicted to gambling.
In January, the actor told Extra that he was "trying to get as thin as I possibly can." But it's still mind-boggling to think that the often-ripped star can endure so much weight loss.
"I started at 196 and got down to 135," he said. "I began with a liquid diet. Then I completely changed my training program and gave up wine, bread and pasta. Now I'm eating small portions of protein throughout the day and jumping rope a lot."
Wahlberg is no stranger to transforming his body for roles. For last year's "Pain and Gain," he ate 10 meals a day and trained five days a week to buff up (having to appear with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson was surely motivation).
Props to Wahlberg for his immense effort to lose so much weight, or as Tina Fey would joke, "what actresses call 'being in a movie.'"
You can catch a pre-weight loss Mark Wahlberg in this summer's "Transformers: Age of Extinction."
[Photo by Kevin Winter / Getty Images for Spike TV and VP / Star Max / GC Images]