Tattoos aren’t the only thing 50 Cent has been shedding for his film career. The rapper-turned-actor dropped the pounds as well.

To play a football star stricken with cancer in Things Fall Apart, the 34-year-old (real name Curtis Jackson) hit the treadmill for up to 3 hours a day. His 54-lb weight loss - he went from 214 to 160 - was also achieved through a liquid diet.

“I was starving,” the committed actor said about his regimen.

The Mario Van Peebles-directed project was inspired by a friend of the musician’s who died of cancer. In fact, the movie was also co-written by Jackson.

You can see more shocking pics of 50 Cent’s physique after the jump.