Orlando Bloom reveals extreme weight loss measures for boxing movie The Cut

Orlando Bloom survived on only cucumber and tuna for weeks as part of an extreme diet regime for boxing movie The Cut.

The 48-year-old actor portrays a retired fighter who decides to come out of retirement for one more lucrative title match and has to adhere to the unorthodox measures of boxing coach Boz (John Turturro) to make weight.

Orlando had to shift over 30lbs for the role, and under the guise of a Hollywood nutritionist he shrunk his food intake from three meals a day to one and then a diet of nothing but cucumber and tuna to achieve the required body shape and weight.

In an interview on UK TV show This Morning, he said: "It was an intense a film to make as it looks on camera because I was kind of living the role of the boxer.

"I love the boxing genre, always thought, 'How do I come into this world? How do we do something new and different?' This movie really focuses on the fight being the cut, the cutting of weight, boxers cut weight to get into the ring. Famously Chris Eubank Jr. just recently didn't make the weight which was brutal for him. So the cutting weight is what we focus on, that's the fight. It's really a kind of commentary on the stress the body goes through, the mind goes through.

"It was very real I can tell you.

"I wouldn't recommend doing it, it's not something to take lightly. I had a great nutritionist, that I was recommended by one of my agents, who worked with Christian Bale on some stuff. He was checking my bloods and stuff.

"He tiered me down from three meals a day to one. Suddenly all these foods were being taken away from me and this protein powder was the last one, it was like, 'Please, don't take that one!' Then basically I came down to just tuna and cucumber for the last three weeks.

"It was just tuna and cucumber before this piece at the end where I'm trying to make the weight. I was just exhausted, mentally and physically. I was a horrible person to be around."

The Cut had to be shot in reverse chronological order, with the ending being the first scene, because he had no energy to work due to the severity of the weight cut and was also suffering from "intrusive thoughts" caused by his hunger.

Orlando explained: "We shot the film in reverse chronological order because of the weight, I had no energy or brain power.

"It's really weird, the paranoia, the intrusive thoughts. We're supposed to eat and sleep and take care of ourselves.

"It's really a commntary on the lengths this person will go to, to have that second shot. That's so relatable."

Orlando - who also stars in the movie with Caitríona Balfe - hopes the movie will show people the reality of what boxers go through to make it into the ring and the real dangers they subject themselves to.

He said: "It is such a dangerous process and there are still fighters losing their lives because they're so dehydrated because the brain needs fluid. There is a story behind this that is based in reality for these fighters. People don't talk about it. We take it to the extreme in the movie but it's definitely a real thing."