Originally appeared on E! Online
Ralph Fiennes is embracing his ripped battle scars.
Four months after starring as the heroic Odysseus—the Greek king of Ithaca who fought in the Trojan War for a decade—in 2024’s The Return, the 62-year-old actor shared a new look at how he’s maintained his muscular tone since taking on the role.
In a April 12 post on X (formerly Twitter), Ralph showed off his lean physique while working out at the gym. Fittingly captioning the photos with the flexed bicep emoji, the Conclave star also sported a shaggy beard, which he also grew out to give his character a more exhausted, tattered look. After all, he was physically and emotionally tied to a bloody battle for quite some time.
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And with that devotion in mind, Ralph—who was first approached to play Odysseus by director Uberto Pasolini in 2011, but didn’t accept until 11 years later—knew he had to stay dedicated to a workout regime. In fact, the Harry Potter alum revealed went through five months of physical training, though he didn’t want to look completely ripped.
“Uberto was very clear. He didn’t want me to have a sort of bulked-up gym body,” Ralph told The Guardian of his transformation in March, adding that he told his personal trainer, Dan Avasilcai, that he should “look like a bit of old rope.”
To complete his transformation, he also stuck to a strict diet “rich in proteins, complex carbohydrates and vegetables” to help slim down, considering the fictional Odysseus probably hadn’t eaten much during his 10-year fight at war and eventual return to his home in Ithaca.
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The Oscar nominee further detailed his mindset playing the Greek hero earlier this month, noting his character was a “stressed out” man who “suffered the horrors of war.”
“I knew from the script that my body would be exposed,” he explained on the Lorraine talk show at the time. “I [only wore] a blanket and a wine-cloth. This man is a soldier, a warrior and he’s sailed across the oceans.” Keep reading to see other actors who went through an impressive transformation for a role…
Channing Tatum
The Magic Mike star’s weight has fluctuated over the years, especially in 2024, as he got into character for two back-to-back movie roles.
He said on Instagram in March 2025 that he currently weighed 205 pounds—up from the 172 pounds he weighed for Roofman (pictured, right). Months before beginning production on that 2024 film, he shot the movie Josephine (pictured, left) and weighed 235 pounds for his role.
Timothée Chalamet
For his Oscar-nominated role as musician Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown, the Dune actor learned how to sing and play guitar.
“I also put on 20 pounds,” he said during a January 2025 episode NPR’s All Things Considered podcast, “because, believe it or not, I was thinner than the guy.”
Cillian Murphy
To play scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer in Christopher Nolan‘s Oppenheimer, the Irish actor “had to lose quite a bit of weight,” he shared. “He was very slim, almost emaciated, existed on martinis and cigarettes.” His diet? According to costar Emily Blunt, “He had such a monumental undertaking.And he could only eat, like, an almond every day.”
Joaquin Phoenix
For his Joker role, the Oscar winner opened up about his 52-pound weight loss, telling the Associated Press, “Once you reach the target weight, everything changes. Like so much of what’s difficult is waking up every day and being obsessed over like 0.3 pounds. Right? And you really develop like a disorder.”
J.K. Simmons
The Spider-Man alum shocked fans when he debuted his bulging biceps, which were displayed in Justice League.
Jake Gyllenhaal
“I’d say my mother was worried,” he previously told E! News after losing 30 pounds for Nightcrawler. “I would say she just wanted me to be careful. But she also knew and knows how seriously I take what I do and she respects that.”
Michael B. Jordan
The Black Panther star gained nearly 30 pounds of muscle to transform into a rookie-turned-professional boxer in Creed.
Jared Leto
The actor and musician nabbed an Oscar for his riveting role in The Dallas Buyers Club. He lost 40 pounds for the role.
Chris Messina
The Mindy Project alum had to gain 40 pounds for his role in Live by Night.
Renée Zellweger
The Bridget Jones’s Diary actress gained weight to portray the lovable character in the franchise’s first and second films.
Matthew McConaughey
Rooney Mara
The actress looked lean and strong for her starring role in The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.
Anne Hathaway
The Les Misérables star took home an Oscar for her role in the musical.
Christian Bale
He’s no stranger to morphing for movie roles. In 2004, he lost more than 60 pounds for his role in The Machinist, and he did it again for the film The Fighter, opposite Mark Wahlberg. He also gained 40 pounds for American Hustle—and lost 70 pounds for Ford v Ferrari.
Jake Gyllenhaal (Again)
The actor looked more like a god than a prince for his role in 2010’s Prince of Persia. Gyllenhaal said he studied Parkour, the French art of street running, in order to bulk up for the film.
Tom Hanks
“All it is is time and discipline,” the Oscar winner told Time magazine of his role in 2000’s Cast Away, for which he lost over 50 pounds to play a man stranded on an uninhabited island.
50 Cent
The ripped rapper shocked fans with a photo of himself looking slender. He reportedly went from 214 to 160 pounds in just nine weeks to play a football player diagnosed with cancer in Things Fall Apart.
Robert De Niro
Shaping up for movie roles is nothing new. The legendary actor earned an Oscar nom for his role as terrifying tattooed rapist Max Cady in the 1991 thriller Cape Fear.
Christian Bale (Again)
In order to portray former Vice President Dick Cheney in the 2018 biopic Vice, the star sported a fuller figure.
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