Jason Schwartzman crams a donut in it

Jason Schwartzman used to wake up at 3am to eat doughnuts.

The actor was so nervous about his role in Marie Antoinette, he decided to gain 45 pounds to distract people from his performance. But putting on weight was harder than he thought and Jason was forced to binge on junk food at odd hours.

"I really struggled to play Louis XVI so I just thought I should be like Robert De Niro and gain 45lbs," he recalled. "The director said a doctor would supervise me, but no one ever did. So I just embarked on this mission to basically eat everything I could. I would do little tricks like put doughnuts next to my bed and set my alarm for 3am and wake up and scoff them down. I stopped all physical activity, drank a lot of beer and watched DVDs."

Jason has starred in several big-budget movies since the 2006 royal drama, but he is still anxious about his acting. On the set of his latest film Fantastic Mr. Fox, Jason couldn't stop staring at his co-star George Clooney, because he was so in awe of his skills.

"Typically when you're working with someone it's not kosher to gaze at them because you're usually on camera as well," he told Parade. "But when we were sitting around a table with just a recorder, it was really nice for me to be able to look at George.

"I admit I might have actually been staring. Obviously, he's a handsome gentleman, but what I found fascinating was just kind of watching him work. It was like having a front row seat in an acting class."