Nicole Kidman's fat role

Oct 22, 2007, 12:30 GMT

10/07/2007 - Nicole Kidman - © Wild1 / PR Photos

Nicole Kidman is gorging on chocolate and pasta to fatten up for her latest movie.

The 40-year-old star has already piled on 10lbs to play a middle-aged woman in 'The Reader' - based on the best-selling German novel about the emotional repercussions of the Holocaust in World War II - by sticking to a four meal-a-day calorific diet of puddings, protein shakes and carbohydrate-rich foods.

A friend of the actress said: "It's a very demanding role because there are a lot of explicit lovemaking scenes. The film is set over several decades so her character changes a lot. Nicole was originally planning to use prosthetics but was told by the director, Stephen Daldry, it would be more realistic if she gained the weight.

"It's not usual to see her work her way through a big plate of pasta, with bread, and then a dessert."

Nicole - who plays Nazi camp guard Hanna who has an affair with a teenage boy and is later put on trial for war crimes - has enjoyed one major benefit from her weight gain, a larger bust.

The pal added: "Nicole loves her new bosom, but she is finding eating so much makes her lethargic and sleepy."

The Australian actress is not the first star to drastically change her appearance for her art.

Renée Zellweger famously piled on 30lbs - going from a size six to a 14 - for her lead role in 'Bridget Jones' Diary', by munching on pizza, peanut-butter sandwiches, fast food and drinking Guinness.

(C) BANG Media International