Umbrella Academy Star Tom Hopper Had to Build His Ripped Physique in Secret During Drama School
Tom Hopper, star of Netflix’s The Umbrella Academy, recently revealed on our Men’s Health podcast that his introduction to weightlifting was anything but ordinary.
The 6’5” actor, known for his physical presence on screen and ripped physique, revealed that the drama school he attended had a strict edict against hitting the gym. ‘They used to be like “Do not touch weights! Do not work out! It’ll tighten you up and you won’t be free on stage!”’ said the former Game of Thrones star.
It was once a commonly held belief that lifting weights could cause people to become ‘muscle-bound’, losing their flexibility, but studies have since suggested that resistance training can actually aid flexibility and may even be as effective as stretching.
Thirty-nine-year-old Hopper, who has adorned the cover of Men’s Health and is set to star alongside Chris Pratt in the upcoming Terminal List: Dark Wolf, went on to say that he always knew he wanted to star in action films, sharing, ‘Schwarzenegger, Lundgren, Stallone, Van Damme. You name it, I used to watch all of them. I thought, I don’t want to just do theatre, I want to go and do action movies. I want to be an actor that does physical stuff.’
Hopper also says that he knew he was going to have to bulk up if he wanted to stand out. ‘I’d look around and see all of these other guys in my year and we all kind of looked the same, we’re all just skinny British fellas.’
Hopper, who now has two decades of training experience under his belt, began lifting weights and using supplements in secret but says it wasn’t long before his burgeoning biceps started raising suspicion. ‘Halfway through my third year, one of the teachers was like “Tom, are you lifting weights?” I just went “No, no, it’s just natural. It’s weird, my brother had the same thing where we just put on a lot of muscle when he was 21. Just a growth spurt!” Meanwhile, in my garage, I’m absolutely smashing the weights, taking creatine and protein shakes,’ the star joked.
There’s clearly no hiding Hopper’s love for the iron. But he's more than just a chiselled face, and has since accrued a wealth of helpful experience in both the gym and the kitchen. In the podcast episode, he goes on to share his in-depth knowledge of training and nutrition, as well as the various styles of workouts and diets he’s experimented with over the years, before revealing his go-to exercises for a full-body hit.
Episode available to watch now: above, on YouTube and on podcast outlets.
Tom Hopper stars as Luther in The Umbrella Academy. Season 4 of The Umbrella Academy is streaming now on Netflix.
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