Hugh Jackman on losing fat, gaining muscle for 'Les Mis'

Anne Hathaway isn't the only "Les Misérables" star who underwent a big physical transformation for the musical.

Hugh Jackman, who plays Jean Valjean in Tom Hooper's flilm, recently told CNN how he achieved his character's strong but svelte bod.

"I lost a lot of weight, but I was still in the gym because [Valjean is] known for his strength," he said. "So it's about three hours in the gym a day and eating very boring food. ... I didn't see a carbohydrate for a long period of time."

And before the first day of filming, Jackman said he sacrificed liquids altogether.

"Don't try this at home," the actor warned, adding, "I had advice from the body builder, he goes, 'Man if you really want to lose some weight and be unrecognizable,' he goes, 'Don't drink for 36 hours.' ... I had a massive headache and I was very much regretting it after about 20 hours, but [I'd] just gone too far at that point."

Like his co-star Hathaway, who told CNN that she never ruled out losing weight or cutting her hair for the role, Jackman said that "If there's really something I wouldn't do, I just probably wouldn't do the role."

Though, he added, some stunts are out of the question.

"I did do a stunt recently in 'Wolverine' where they said, 'So what's going to happen, you're going to run along and this car is going to run into you.' And I said, 'OK and the car is going how fast?' And they said, 'Not very fast. Probably about 25 mph.' "

And that's where his stunt double Daniel came in, he said.