Ralph Fiennes isn’t returning to his old physique.
The Conclave actor, 62, who initially bulked up to play Odysseus in the 2024 film The Return, revealed that he’s kept up his fitness routine by sharing a glimpse into the workouts he used to look the part of the legendary Greek king of Ithaca.
In an April 22 post to X, Ralph shared a video in the gym doing burpeeswhile holding two 25 pounds dumbbells. Along with the video, that was set to the Bee Gee’s song “Stayin’ Alive,” he wrote, “That’s how we stay young.”
Ralph had previously showcased his major transformation by sharing a before-and-after photo set on X earlier in the month, which he captioned with a muscle emoji.
However, Ralph—who was first approached to play the Greek legend by director Uberto Pasolini in 2011 before accepting 11 years later—wasn’t aiming to look too ripped. While he did go through five months of training for the role, he just wanted to look the part, not have a “bulked-up gym body.”
In fact, as he admitted to TheGuardian last month, he told his trainer he should “look like a bit of old rope.”
“At the beginning, I have to confess, I was slightly suspicious that there was so much protein going in and so much exercise that we would have a body that looked exercised instead of a body that was consumed,” he continued, adding, “A lived in body.”
Ultimately, Ralph put it simply: “There is no gym in ancient Greece.”
And Ralph isn’t the only star who recently underwent a major transformation to play Odysseus. Matt Damon, 54, recently showed off his abs in photos from filming Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, another film centered on the Greek legend.
And his longtime BFF Ben Affleck, 52, couldn’t help but weigh in on the transformation, sharing that it was “very impressive.”
“I have to respect, it’s a lot of hard work,” the actor told Entertainment Tonight in an interview posted April 16. “He just works very hard and you can see it here. If it requires a physique for the role and he’s got to be like, this warrior, he’ll go get it done.”
For more stars who went through physical transformations for roles, read on.
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.”
Orlando Bloom
The Pirates of the Caribbean alum detailed the physical and emotional toll of losing 52 pounds for his boxing movie The Cut.
“I was exhausted mentally, physically. I was hangry,” he said on This Morning. “I was a horrible person to be around. The paranoia, the intrusive thoughts.”
“I wouldn’t recommend doing it at home, by the way,” he continued. “It was definitely not something to take lightly.”
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
The Magic Mike hunk dropped 30 pounds to star in The Dallas Buyer’s Club—which centered on the real-life story about a man dying from AIDS in the 1980s who treated himself with alternative remedies he smuggled into the United States from Mexico.
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.
