50 Cent has shocked fans after he published dramatic pictures of himself after losing four stone for a new movie.

The rapper went from 214 pounds to 160 pounds in just nine weeks in order to play a cancer-stricken American football player.

The pictures, published on ThisIs50.com, showed the star looking gaunt and with grey-haired eyebrows.

The rapper lost the weight by going on a liquid-only diet and undertaking three-hour-a-day treadmill walks, a message on his website said.

In a statement, 50 Cent said he was “starving”, but added that he was now eating normally again ahead of touring.

Things Fall Apart is due to be released in 2011.

(by Jason Gregory)