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Exercise Stars! Celebs Who Worked Out Seriously for Movie Roles: Zac Efron, Brie Larson and More

Health & Fitness

Jan 5, 2024 1:41 pm·

By John Quinn

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Kumail Nanjiani

The Eternals star wanted to look the part to play Marvel’s first South Asian superhero, so he enlisted trainers, nutritionists and even a cardiologist and hit the gym every day. But the transformation from hot nerd to hunk tapped into the 45-year-old’s insecurity about his body. “I know exactly what I weigh every day,” he admitted in one interview. “And if I could change something, I would love not to think about that.”

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Zac Efron

“In the best way possible, I did not look anything like me,” the 36-year-old has said of BEFORE bulking up to play 1980s pro wrestler Kevin Von Erich in The Iron Claw. “It was jarring at first.” His costar Jeremy Allen White, who plays his wrestler brother Kerry Von Erich, was peeved at how seemingly easy it was for the High School Musical alum to get ripped. “I had been training for months, lifting and doing this and doing that and eating more,” he joked. “And I showed up, saw him, and I’m like, ‘What is this even for? Why do I even try?’”

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Jake Gyllenhaal

The normally lanky 43-year-old got shredded to play a boxer in Southpaw — and it was grueling. “Eventually, I was running eight miles,” he later revealed. “I would go and work out for two hours doing mitt work, heavy bag and speed bags, over five months, every single day, twice a day.” He ultimately packed on 15 pounds of pure muscle!

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Josh Brolin

From dad bod to Deadpool 2’s jacked time-traveling killer! The 55-year-old had just 11 weeks to muscle up: “I had this great midlife-crisis idea. Buy a Ferrari? No, I’ll get into shape,” he shared. “And it was just a dumb decision. I worked out three hours a day, and I was off sugar.” Joking that he should have just taken steroids and watched TV, he allowed, “I’m very happy with the outcome.”

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Brie Larson

After whipping herself into shape to play Captain Marvel, the 34-year-old was psyched by her new physique — and wanted to keep going. “I was able to get way further than I ever thought I would ever get to in my life,” the Oscar winner marveled. “I never thought I’d be able to deadlift 225 pounds, never thought I could hip thrust 400 pounds — I didn’t even know hip thrust existed before — so that was great.”

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