50 Cent spoke out on extreme transformation for film role that fans still can't believe is actually real

Warning: This article contains discussion of cancer which some readers may find distressing.

50 Cent opened up about what it was like losing around 50 pounds for a movie role and why he felt the transformation was crucial.

You may mostly recognize 50 Cent - real name Curtis James Jackson III - for being a rapper, but when he's not 'In da Club' he's also behind the cameras as an actor too.

For 2011 movie All Things Fall Apart, 50 Cent took on the role of Deon, a promising college football player who is diagnosed with cancer in his senior year.

The film is loosely based on the rapper's childhood friend who passed away from cancer and in order to accurately portray Deon, Jackson spent nine weeks losing an astonishing amount of weight.

He went on a liquid diet and ran on a treadmill three times a day, going from 214 pounds (97kg) to 160 pounds (72.5kg).

So drastic was the transformation, images of the actor after the nine weeks left many social media users in disbelief that it was actually the rapper.

And there was a reason why the rapper felt so strongly about the transformation and he's opened up about why the process getting there was even 'tougher' than when he had to follow a similar liquid diet when he was shot in the jaw in 2000.

50 Cent underwent an extreme physical transformation for the role (Image Entertainment)

In an interview with the Associated Press in 2010, he said: "This time it was a lot tougher for me."

He continued: "I had to discipline myself not... To actually have myself be in the physical state to convey the energy I felt. It’s a passion project for me."

Whenever he did feel himself wavering slightly, Jackson motivated himself by researching other actors who'd undergone extreme physical transformations for a role.

Christian Bale, for example, has gone through several intense transformations across the span of his career from losing four stone for The Machinist (2004) to putting the pounds on to play Irving Rosenfeld in 2013's American Hustle.

He called the movie a 'passion project' (Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images)

Charlize Theron has also spoken candidly about undergoing extreme body transformations for a role too, vowing to never do it again.

50 Cent continued: "I actually got on the computer. When it started getting difficult, I was looking to see what their experience was like and I got a chance to see all of the interviews they had at different time periods when they were doing promotion for the projects."

If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, contact the American Cancer Society on 1-800-227-2345 or via their live chat feature, available 24/7 every day of the year.