How These 19 Stars Transformed Into Movie Heroes and Villains

Chris Hemsworth

The Hero: Thor

How He Did It: If you’re playing Thor, the Norse god of thunder, you have to be jacked. Chris Hemsworth has made it look easy over the course of his Marvel film career—and he’ll do it again in Thor: Ragnarok and Avengers: Infinity War, in which he’ll team up with Captain America and Iron Man. To get in superhero-ready shape, the Aussie actor does boxing, barbell curls, heavy-rope workouts, medicine ball and resistance band workouts, legs raises, and cardio workouts.

See Hemsworth in action on Instagram.

Zachary Levi

The Hero: Shazam

How He Did It: In the film Shazam!, all Billy Batson needs to do to transform into the hero is shout the word ‘Shazam!’ But for actor Zachary Levi, he had to do some real-life training to get the body he needed to play the all-powerful hero. As part of his April 2019 cover story for Men’s Journal, Levi detailed the work he did to become Shazam.

Levi teamed up with trainer Grant Roberts for the film, transforming himself into a ripped hero with workouts at Granite Gym in Los Angeles. Levi did lifting six days a week, including some two-a-day sessions, which Roberts called “beyond-failure training.” Along with lifting and fight training, Levi also overhauled his diet, eating a strict program of foods and consuming 3,000-4,000 calories each day. That was broken down to 35 percent protein, 55 percent fat, and 10 percent carbs, with a tablespoon of fish oil, helping him build the frame he needed for the role.

 

 

 

 

 

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It’s like the old saying goes, “Hard work, over time, plus chicken & broccoli, minus carbs, divided by whey protein, in which “X” represents the amount of supplements and “Y” represents the sentiment of “WHY the hell am I doing this to myself?!”, multiplied by shameless selfies whilst staring into nowhere…carryyy theee ooone…equals results.” 📸 by @ericblackmon / “Tan” by Hefe Filter / Body by Jake. 👏💃

A post shared by Zachary Levi (@zacharylevi) on Apr 13, 2018 at 5:08am PDT

Gal Gadot

The Hero: Wonder Woman

How She Did It: Gal Gadot truly kicks ass as Wonder Woman. The actress uses a range of workouts to get ready for the role, including boxing, rope workouts, weight training and much more. Reebok released one of Gadot’s workouts, and it’s pretty intense. Gadot does a core circuit as part of her training along with all the boxing and fight workouts she does and it includes side squats, lunges, planks, skate jumps, and bear crawls—and she does the circuit 3-5 times as part of her training. Gadot is hard at work on Wonder Woman 1984, getting the chance to show off her badass skills once again as Diana. 

See the post below at Gadot’s Instagram page. 

 

 

 

 

 

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My favorite kind of training🥊 Happy Friday ✌️

A post shared by Gal Gadot (@gal_gadot) on Nov 9, 2018 at 6:51am PST

Josh Brolin

The Hero/Villain: Cable in Deadpool 2 and Thanos in the MCU

How He Did It: Josh Brolin plays the ultimate villain in Avengers: Infinity War: Thanos. And, since the part is basically all motion capture, he didn’t necessarily have to bulk up for it. But there were no short cuts in Brolin’s portrayal of Cable for Deadpool 2. A character known for his massive muscles, Brolin jumped into the gym right away doing dumbbell workouts, shoulder exercises, and deadlifts to add mass. If the first official photos of Cable are any indication, he’s doing a damn fine job.

Check out how Brolin’s getting ready to play Cable via his Instagram.

Will Smith

The Hero/Villain: Deadshot in Suicide Squad

How He Did It: Working with his personal trainer Aaron Ferguson, Smith did intense strength sessions with co-star Joel Kinnaman.

The Trainer Says: “I like a more traditional body-building routine,” Ferguson said. “Using very controlled motions with not too much weight, but perfect form, because we couldn’t chance anyone getting injured again. We were trying to build up the shoulders and slim down the waist to give that real action-figure look, which I think we accomplished.”

Jason Momoa

The Hero: Aquaman

How He Did It: After starring on Game of Thrones as Dothraki leader Khal Drogo, Jason Momoa has only gotten bigger—in his career and in his physique. The Hawaii-born actor is playing Arthur Curry in the upcoming Justice League and Aquaman films (he also starred in The Bad Batch in Summer 2017—a wild and crazy dystopian sci-fi western you should check out). Momoa sculpted his body to play Aquaman, using weighted pullups, renegade rows, one-arm cable pulldowns, heavy rope workouts, and, of course, rock climbing.

Check out more insane training posts on Momoa’s Instagram.

Henry Cavill

The Hero: Superman

How He Did It: British-born Henry Cavill took the mantle of All-American hero and made it his own. Though he made the ultimate sacrifice in Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, he’ll be back for Justice League. The former Men’s Journal cover star got ripped to play Kal-El from Krypton using CrossFit-style training, including plyometrics, burpees, chinups, deadlifts, kettlebell work, power cleans, and rows.

See how Cavill’s training via Instagram.

James McAcoy

The Hero/Villain: The Horde/The Beast

How He Did It: For his movie Glass, McAvoy transformed his body into a muscular machine to play the villain Kevin Wendell Crumb, who has multiple personalities, including one called ‘The Beast’. This personality is super-strong and can climb walls, so McAvoy worked with trainer Magnus Lygdback to add muscle and strength to his frame. As he detailed for Men’s Journal, Lygdback put McAvoy through an intense training program to get the size he needed. “James is one of those guys who loves the process,” said Lygdback. “Because he had already been hitting the gym, and the framework was there, we were able to get more accomplished than I ever imagined.”

Hugh Jackman

The Hero: Wolverine

How He Did It: Hugh Jackman kept himself in shape for more than a decade after playing Wolverine, coming back better than ever in 2017’s Logan. While that flick is expected to be Jackman’s last hurrah as Wolverine, Ryan Reynolds has tried to convince the actor to make an appearance in a Deadpool film, The Independent reports. Over the course of his training for Logan, Jackman used clap pushups, trap-bar (hex) deadlifts, squats, bench presses, weighted pullups, and dumbbell lunges to bulk up.

See how Jackman’s staying huge via Instagram.

Tom Hardy

The Hero/Villain: Bane and Venom

How He Did It: Tom Hardy has been around the block a few times for body transformations for his film roles, and those include his turns as superpowered heroes and villains. Bane from The Dark Knight Rises (one of our 25 most badass and physically dominating movie villains of all time) of course comes to mind, as Hardy added over 30 pounds of rock-hard muscle for that role. Hardy did four training sessions per day to get ready for that film, and he did something similar for another “super” role in Venom. In that film, Hardy’s Venom will be more of an antihero, and to get ready for the part, Hardy took on intense MMA and kickboxing training with professional fighters.

Check here for the post of Hardy’s training on Instagram.

Dave Bautista

The Hero: Drax

How He Did It: The 6’5” former wrestler gave a killer performance as Drax in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, a role in which he’s pretty much always shirtless. Bautista detailed the upper-body workout he used to get in shape for the film for Muscle & Fitness. To pump up his chest, Bautista used a five-exercise routine that included cable crossovers, weighted dips, chest press variations, and good old-fashioned pushups. To maintain his massive physique, he also does boxing, kickboxing, and weightlifting.

See Bautista in action on Instagram.

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson

The Hero: Roadblock / Black Adam

How He Did It: The 2016 highest-paid actor in the world hasn’t played a movie superhero or villain in the traditional sense—yet. Johnson is set to play Black Adam in his own solo film that’ll bring The Rock into the DC Cinematic Universe, but that’s not until 2019 at the earliest. Johnson did play Roadblock in G.I. Joe: Retaliation, which is based on the original comic book series, so that’s close enough. And Johnson is basically a real-life superhero anyway, so he fits right in. Take a look at these 11 workout posts from Johnson and see how he gets it done.

Check out Johnson’s Instagram for endless fitness motivation and training videos.

Michael B. Jordan

The Hero/Villain: Killmonger

How He Did It: The December 2015 Men’s Fitness cover star used an intense workout to get sculpted for Creed, which included bench dips, triceps pulldowns, dumbbell kickbacks, dumbbell rows, barbell curls, bentover rows, and squats. He got even bigger for his role in 2018’s Black Panther, starring as the main antagonist to T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman), playing old rival Erik Killmonger.

Check out even more progress pics on Jordan’s Instagram.

Chris Pratt

The Hero: Star-Lord

How He Did It: Chris Pratt has undergone one of the biggest body transformations in Hollywood, going from the lovable, doughy Andy Dwyer on Parks and Recreation, to the shredded, rebellious Star-Lord in Guardians of the Galaxy. Between roles in Moneyball, Zero Dark Thirty, and Jurassic World, Pratt has ditched the extra pounds for good, and his physique should only get sharper with Avengers: Infinity War and Jurassic World: Lost Kingdom on deck. Pratt used this fat-shredding, CrossFit-style workout that combined medicine ball work and battle ropes to help get in shape for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.

See more transformation shots and nutrition “tips” on Pratt’s Instagram.

Scott Adkins

The Villain: Lucian

How He Did It: Scott Adkins is an actor who really knows how to kick some ass. Adkins has been studying martial arts since he was a teenager, and he’s appeared as a villain in a number of movies, including superhero fare like Doctor Strange and X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Adkins played the right-hand man of Jean-Claude Van Damme in The Expendables 2, and some of his favorite workouts include exercises like shoulder raises, biceps work, cable moves, and dumbbell curl variations.

“I like explosive movements, and I do some plyometrics for my lower body,” Adkins told Men’s Fitness in 2016. “I do a lot of box jumps, and depending on the part I’m training for, if I need to be bigger, I just train five times a week with the weights and mix it up.”

Check out more impressive shots on Adkins’ Instagram.

Joe Manganiello

The Villain: Deathstroke

How He Did It: Joe Manganiello did a major bulk-up back when he was on True Blood, and he did it again for his appearance as (spoiler alert!) the badass villain Deathstroke in an end-of-credits cameo in Justice League. While he may not appear again in the DCEU, he still made for an awesome villian, even in a cameo.

Check out the shots on Manganiello’s Instagram.

Ray Fisher

The Hero: Cyborg

How He Did It: Ray Fisher is all about that #BORGLIFE. The actor made his big-screen debut in Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice as Cyborg, and he’ll do it again in Justice League. To play former football player Victor Stone, who turns into a half-robot genius with super-strength following an experiment by his father, Fisher hit the gym hard. The actor thanked his trainer on Instagram with a photo of his shredded body and rock-hard six-pack (shown), mentioning how he went from 190lbs to 223lbs for the role. Fisher used squats, bench presses, curls, and calf raises to get his incredible body.

Check out even more incredible progress shots and training videos on Fisher’s Instagram.