Hugh Gets Huge: Jackman on 6,000- Calorie “Wolverine” Diet

Director told star to pack on the pounds

It must be even nicer to be Hugh Jackman these days, now that his director has ordered him to stuff himself with 6,000 calories a day.

Jackman, who is prepping to reprise his role in the next installment of the ":Wolverine" franchise, was told by Darren Aronofsky to pack the pounds onto his chiseled frame until he looks more like Mike Tyson.

"Right now, I'm at 210 [pounds]," Jackman told the LA Times. "I was at 190 ... and [Aronofsky] said with the last one, 'Hey you looked great, but you're so tall that in those long shots you looked kind of like Clint Eastwood, and that's not Wolverine.' "

Aronofsky went the other way with Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis in getting them ready for "Black Swan." They each were instructed to shed 20 pounds for their roles.

"[Aronofsky] said that Wolverine, in the comics, is powerful, stocky, you know, he's short and thick. So he said, 'I want you to go there, get bigger,' " Jackman said, adding his new diet isn't easy. "It's 6,000 calories a day, it's rough."

The 6-foot-2 actor is drawing on Mike Tyson in his prime for his new shape.

"Sometimes [Tyson] was a full foot shorter than his opponents and bent over [with this] massive build ... There's real power," he said, joking that this role may not be best for his health. "If I have a massive heart attack first, well, you tell everyone what I was going for.

Selected Reading: PopEater, Los Angeles Times, IMDb.

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