Over the past year or so, we’ve watched Jonathan Majors’ physical transformation as he prepared to play three cut-out characters in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Creed III, and Magazine Dreams. Now all these films will be released during 2023, and the actor, whose hard work has clearly paid off, talks about the challenges associated with keeping fit.
After the premiere of his latest project Magazine Dreams at the Sundance Film Festival, Majors spoke with Deadline about his latest film and how he might relate to his bodybuilding character. The actor explained that the lineup of his three upcoming films in the 2023 movie schedule made him train in a way that made him feel quite isolated, just like his character. The actor said:
Unfortunately, it wasn’t far from me, people were afraid of me because of my height or because of my race. When I got the script, I was filming the movie “Harder They Fall”. I call what followed my physical triad, which includes Quantiomania and Credo. And then Killian. Judging by the last photo, it was 18 months of training. So there was a lot of isolation.
On a lighter note, Majors also noted that he had to learn to live without French fries. And although the lack of French fries and isolation were difficult, he also made it clear that he was grateful for all these opportunities, and he really wanted to take on these projects, especially with regard to Magazine Dreams:
I mean, yeah, it was hard. It was hard. But it’s a job, you know? But I love French fries. That’s my business. I really like them. But once I got over it, I was locked up. As for the isolation part, when I first read the script, I thought: “It’s impossible. No one will do that.” But I also thought: “I have to do it; it’s an opportunity.”
The actor has 100% taken advantage of the opportunities as he will be playing the new big bad Kang in several upcoming Marvel projects starting next month with “Ant-Man.” Then he will fight Michael B. Jordan in the third part of Creed. Then he will complete the case by playing the novice bodybuilder Killian Mddox. In short, it’s a lot of movies and a lot of pumped-up men who can be played. Majors knows about it, and he did his best to be in the best shape he was capable of. However, it was not without problems, he continued to talk about “hard” work, saying:
But isolation… there’s no one around you when you train three times a day. And you have to eat seven times a day. You walk back and forth in your apartment, forcibly feeding yourself with food necessary for growth. This isolation and physical commitment generate a certain emotionality and detachment. The gift of adversity is that you can learn from roles. I learned a lot about my body, my spirit and my emotions, as well as how I communicate with people.
His workouts definitely sound intense. When creating Ant-Man, he would wake up at 4:30 a.m. to go to the gym, and then come back again at 7 a.m. to maintain the physique needed to play Kang. I’m sure his routine was similar to the other two physically challenging roles.
Despite the fact that all this work seems difficult physically and mentally, Majors seems to have found a middle ground and learned a lot from his experience. He is also acutely aware of how his physique affects the stories of his characters. For example, while the internet exploded when they first saw Majors in Creed III, he explained that for his character, the shape he was in is deeply related to his trauma. Knowing the deeper meaning of why his characters were motivated to get in shape is fascinating, and learning how he prepared for them is both intense and wonderful.
Soon we will see how all the hard work of the Major will pay off, as the third film “Ant-Man” is due to be released in theaters on February 17, and Creed III is released on March 3, I am also sure that we will see Dreams Magazine appear in theaters this year.
