Someone alert the Oscar committee—Nicole Kidman is packing on the pounds for her new movie, The Reader. Smart move, since weight gain usually earns at least a nod.

Over the course of the romantic drama, Nicole’s character gains weight as she gets older. Rather than use prosthetics, she’s eating four huge meals a day—think pasta with a side of bread. (Normally, a friend says, “She's usually running on adrenaline and has to be reminded to eat a meal.” Right, of course, don’t we all?)

So far she’s gained ten pounds. So how does that stack up against other Hollywood heavyweights?

Charlize Theron
GAINED: 30+ pounds to play serial killer Aileen Wuornos in Monster.
HOW SHE DID IT: Potato chips.
RESULT: Oscar win for Best Actress

Renee Zellweger
GAINED: 30+ pounds for Bridget Jones’ Diary and its sequel
HOW SHE DID IT: “One donut does not do a thing…you've got to eat twenty a day for five weeks to get results.” (Eww—and only true if you have a six-week time limit like Renee did. You can very easily gain 20 pounds in a year by eating one extra donut per day.)
RESULT: Oscar nod for Best Actress

George Clooney
GAINED: 30+ pounds for Syriana
HOW HE DID IT: A “pasta-heavy diet”
RESULT: Oscar win for Best Supporting Actor. He was also nominated for Director and Original Screenplay for Good Night and Good Luck that same year, but the extra weight was the only winner.

Julia Roberts
GAINED: 60 faux pounds for America’s Sweethearts
HOW SHE DID IT: Fat suit. (She wouldn’t even sleep in the makeup chair because “If I go to sleep and wake up 60 pounds heavier, I may never sleep again.” Classy.)
RESULT: No love from Oscar. (Then again, she already had one.)

Gwyneth Paltrow
GAINED: 100+ faux pounds for Shallow Hal
HOW SHE DID IT: Fat suit.
RESULT: See Julia.

Nicole’s on the right track, because it seems the weight gain’s gotta be legit. (Oh, and I suppose the movie has to not suck.)

Sidenote: For some reason, losing weight doesn’t seem to have the same effect. Matt Damon and Christian Bale both risked life and liver for sickly-skinny roles—Matt lost 40 pounds for Courage Under Fire, and Christian lost 62 for The Machinist. But despite major health issues, neither received a nomination.

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written by j, November 07, 2007

He is so skinny anyway! Just one of those lucky naturally skinny folks, I guess. Anyway, silly double standards! Maybe its subsconscious thing. We like to see our stick thin actresses looking and our hunky actors like us normals, chunky or not muscular or what have you, and then reward them for not looking so darn "perfect" finally.

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written by AC, November 06, 2007

Tom Hanks also received an Oscar for losing a lot of weight to play an attorney with AIDS in Philadelphia.

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written by Kara Wahlgren, November 05, 2007

Oooh, touche! I forgot about his win. Yep, AB got down to 130 pounds through a six-week starvation diet (and said the lack of carbs made it easier for him to get into the zone of misery and depression). Good call!

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written by j, November 05, 2007

But Adrien Brody did. Lost 30 lbs for The Pianist and won.