“Literally zero body fat”: Marvel Star Jake Gyllenhaal Intimidated Arnold Schwarzenegger With His Ripped Physique for Southpaw

Perhaps one of the most under-appreciated actors, at least in the mainstream sphere of Hollywood, is the very talented Jake Gyllenhaal. Gyllenhaal is an actor you can give any role to and it’s at least assured that he’ll be putting in a shift into the character- most evident in his portrayal of the sociopathic Lou Bloom in Dan Gilroy’s neo-noir thriller Nightcrawler.

But there’s one role that he really poured his heart out for, and that would be as Billy Hope in the American sports drama movie Southpaw. Here’s one interesting detail about his preparation for the Antoine Fuqua-directed movie that impressed even the likes of Arnold Schwarzenegger.

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Jake Gyllenhaal’s Transformation For Southpaw Was Something Else

Southpaw came out in 2015 after a long development process which even saw the likes of Eminem almost being cast into the movie. The movie itself wasn’t anything much, as far as the mixed reviews from critics and fans tell us, but it surely gave us a breathtaking performance from co-stars Jake Gyllenhaal as Billy Hope and Oona Laurence as the former’s on-screen daughter Leila Hope.

But it wasn’t only Gyllenhaal’s acting skills that caught the eye of the crowd, it was all the hard work put into transforming his body into what a Light Heavyweight boxing champion would look like. In fact, his gains were so massive that he impressed the buffets(used to be) celebrity of them all – Arnold Schwarzenegger.

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During an appearance on The Graham Norton Show, the 42-year-old actor was interviewed along with the Commando star. Schwarzenegger took his time complimenting the impressive transformation regimen that Gyllenhaal undertook for his role in Southpaw, saying-

“This guy here got in incredible shape. Did you see his body? He got ripped”

Norton emphasized how important the transformation was, adding-

“So much attention is going to be given to…this…this transformation!”

Schwarzenegger continues-

“The body was really extraordinary, his transformation. Because he was literally, you know, 0 body fat.”

When you’ve got Arnold Schwarzenegger of all people complimenting your gains, there’s no other bar left to set anymore!

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So How Did Jake Gyllenhaal Get That Ripped?

It is surely an impressive feat to have achieved such fitness and strength all for a role in a movie, but the bigger question is how Jake Gyllenhaal got so ripped.

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During the very same appearance on The Graham Norton Show, the Enemy star explains how he achieved this level of fitness, and it’s pretty simple but requires patience –

“The goal was to learn how to box and I learned the methodology and the techniques of boxing and then slowly and slowly got into shape It was a pretty slow progression over five months.”

Well, it’s a new year, and it’s also time for new commitments. If you ever want to get around to looking like him in Southpaw, here are the tips!

Southpaw is currently available for streaming on Netflix.

Source: YouTube