The Lord of the Rings and Pirates of the Caribbean icon Orlando Bloom says he put himself through a grueling training routine to prepare for his pugilist role in The Cut.
"I had a chance to sort of burn the barn down a little bit -- physically and mentally, emotionally, which was something that I really committed to," he said. "It was almost like no acting required because everything that happens to Boxer was sort of happening to me because of the weight loss, the no water at the end and then just the mental fatigue, as well. You're not sleeping when you're so hungry. It's a really hard thing to do."
Written by Justin Bull and directed by Sean Ellis, the film follows Boxer as he goes to extraordinary lengths, including starving himself, to make weight and prepare for a comeback fight.
"Boxer, when we meet him, he's washed up," Bloom said.
"He's training, but not thinking he's going to have another shot and he suddenly sees this window of opportunity," he added. "It's that desperation that I think anyone can probably relate to for a second shot at life, a second shot at that title and that feeling of: 'Am I good enough? How do I get to be good enough? What do I need to do?'"Severance actor John Turturro plays his ruthless trainer Boz and Outlander actress Caitriona Balfe plays Caitlin, his supportive wife who hates what Boxer is putting himself through for a long shot at winning.
"On the page, [Boz] was a bit more like a drill sergeant and John really came in and sort of inverted all the the dialogue and made it about the seduction of this world, of this character," Bloom said.
Although Boz is relentlessly demanding and cruel towards Boxer, Bloom said he and Turturro became good friends over the course of the production.
"It's all love," he laughed.
"John was all love. That was what he brought and it's amazing to work opposite talented actors like John and Caitriona and the rest of the cast because I was very vulnerable, very awkward. he recalled. "I was sort of out of it a lot of the time."
The film was shot in reverse chronological order because Bloom arrived on set at his lightest weight.
"When you're working with great people, they kind of give you nutrition through the work," Bloom said. "We support one another."
