Sacha Baron Cohen flaunts six-pack abs in new look for Marvel's Mephisto, admits to using Ozempic: ‘This is not AI…'
He appeared on Men's Fitness UK cover, flaunting his six-pack abs in shirtless pictures. The 53-year-old actor was seen doing pull-ups and working out in gym, giving fans a sneak peek at how he got in shape for his Marvel role.
Sharing the pictures, Sacha Baron Cohen clarified, "This is not AI. 'I really am egotistical enough to do this.' Sacha Baron Cohen on his Instagram Stories.
Cohen showed his toned back and revealed that he used Ozempic as part of his fitness routine to achieve the physique. He shared, 'Some celebs use Ozempic, some use private chefs, others use personal trainers. I did all three."
The Dictator actor also poked fun at himself and said that he is 'hard launching my mid-life crisis'. He added, 'debuting my new character: middle-aged man who replaced beer with protein shakes,' with more photos from the cover shoot.
He also thanked his personal trainer, Alfonso Moretti, "for doing the unthinkable — putting up with me for 25 mins a day."
Talking about training the actor, Alfonso told the magazine: "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,' he added Alfonso. '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," he added.
'We kept it simple. Bodyweight exercises, pull-ups, push-ups, squats. Minimal equipment. Sacha is very strong – he can do 10-12 solid pull-ups and chin-ups no problem, which for someone 6ft 3in is rare. But by no means would you have looked at him and said, 'He works out.''
'High fibre, low sugar, plenty of protein – nothing fancy, nothing extreme. We didn't count calories. We focused on smart choices,' he added.
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