Shia Labeouf piles on 50 pounds for gangster flick

Washington: Shia Labeouf has gained 50 pounds (22.68 kilograms) to convincingly play Tom Hardy`s onscreen brother in a new gangster film, Lawless.

The Transformers actor said that he felt petite as compared to brawny Hardy when he first met his co-stars and so he hit the gym and worked intensely on his body for two months to do justice to his role. The 26-year-old, who weighed 180 pounds (81.65 kilograms) when he began filming the movie, admitted that his physical transformation was aided by the fact that Hardy, too, agreed to drop a few pounds so they would ‘level out’ with their other movie brother, Jason Clarke. “There’s a fabric of the family that needs to exist. So had I showed up in my fighting weight - which is 130 (pounds) - next to Hardy I wouldn``t have looked like I was related,” Contactmusic quoted him as telling ETonline.com “So I shipped out at (bulked up to) 180 (pounds) and he dropped his weight. And Jason upped his weight and we all tried to level out,” he added. ANI