Sacha Baron Cohen used Ozempic to get in shape for new movie
The 53-year-old actor underwent a body transformation to play Marvel villain Mephisto in Ironheart but admitted he had a lot of help to get the new look.
He posted some pictures of his new physique on Instagram Stories and wrote: 'Some celebs use Ozempic, some use private chefs, some use personal trainers. I did all three.'
'This is not AI. I really am egotistical enough to do this.
'Debuting my new character. Middle aged man who replaced beer with protein shakes.'
Sacha revealed he first turned to Matthew McConaughey for help when he got the role and Matthew put him in touch with celebrity trainer Alfonso Moretti.
He joked to Men's Fitness UK: 'I called Matthew and asked for help. After asking who I was and how I'd gotten his number, he finally gave me Alfonso's contact.'
Marvel originally considered fitting Sacha with 'prosthetic muscles' but he and Alfonso worked together to achieve his look in a 'very short timeframe'.
Alfonso said: 'To be fair to Sacha, he wasn't out of shape. But visually, he didn't have that 'in-shape' look. He looked more like a ruler – straight up and down. The studio was even thinking about fitting him with prosthetic muscles.
'I'm not going to take ultimate credit for this. Sacha had a good base to start with. He has good muscularity: the shape of his muscles, his insertions (where the muscle fibres attach to the bones via tendons), the length of his attachments – he was like an athlete in hiding. But we had a very short timeframe to achieve the look the studio wanted.'
And Cohen's mindset about exercise has changed thanks to his work with Alfonso.
He said: 'My mindset around fitness has definitely evolved. [I love] X-ups. I've always found core workouts challenging, as I'm blessed with the core strength of an arthritic jellyfish, so being able to do them now is a reminder of how far I've come.
'I now believe that just 20 to 30 minutes of movement a day can make a real difference – and it's something anyone can fit into their routine, especially celebrities with personal assistants to do all the boring stuff like shopping and attending friends' funerals. So, no excuses!'
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