It’s no secret that Ralph Fiennes is one of Britain’s finest exports to Hollywood, with a string of impressive acting credits under his belt.
But as the 62-year-old thespian wows critics with his ‘vivid’ and ‘scene-stealing’ performance in the long-anticipated zombie thriller sequel 28 Years Later, viewers have been wowed by something other than his acting skills.
While Fiennes has long held heartthrob status among swooning fans, the actor is in the best shape of his life in his 60s – as viewers are left in awe of his ‘ripped’ physique in the movie.
The beefed-up Hollywood star first left fans open-mouthed with his incredible body in 2024 Greek epic movie The Return, in which he played Homer’s Odysseus.
He has since revealed how he got into shape for the role in a diet and lifestyle overhaul that involved gruelling workouts, a near-total ban on alcohol and a low carb diet – but it’s hard work that has surely paid off as Fiennes sheds the suave, quintessentially British image he once bore to become a rugged and ripped Adonis.
As fans around the world are left open mouthed over Fiennes’s transformation, he and his esteemed personal trainer have revealed how he’s managed to overhaul his physique – and the extreme lengths he has gone to.
Fiennes’s fitness regime was born out of a close relationship with coach Dan Avasilcai, who is based at the Muscleworks Gym in east London.
The trainer has previously revealed how he helped Fiennes get into shape while bearing in mind his age and admitting a man in his 60s must train differently to a man in his 20s.
‘Their muscles, bones and joints are different. I kept Ralph’s workouts strict and safe,’ he told The Times in April.
Fiennes revealed to the newspaper that his fitness regime saw him drop from 80kg to 73kg after maintaining a rigorous schedule of exercise which included waking up at 5.30am to hit the gym and carrying out weight sessions before doing cardio.
He cut out booze and bread and didn’t snack on sweets, and even dehydrated himself to enhance the definition in his muscles.
‘In the script it was clear – the nakedness. In The Odyssey, he throws off his rags, so it was clear that I had to show my body,’ Fiennes said of the character that prompted his transformation.
‘I wanted it to be believable as a man who’s fought and sailed and swum and has not eaten very much.’
Speaking to GQ this month, Avasilcai revealed how Fiennes is as dedicated to his fitness regime as he is to his roles, and sticks to the plans set out.
Although it was The Return that prompted Fiennes’s makeover, he worked with his trainer throughout filming for Papal drama Conclave which earnt him an Oscar nomination.
Avasilcai said: ‘He had a really good body under the robes. He was very keen to maintain a look. He would ask me ‘Can you measure my body fat levels?’ And we’d do it with callipers at the gym. At times I had to force him to eat a bit more, and explain to him that it isn’t healthy to stay lean for so long.’
After beginning his transformation in 2023, Fiennes dropped to around five per cent body fat within a few months of observing the new plan.
In 28 Years Later, Fiennes plays Dr Ian Kelson, another weary character who has survived a zombie apocalypse – meaning he must look ‘strong and agile’, according to his trainer.
He explained a typical day in Fiennes’s fitness regime would be a 5.30am start to train for an hour, with a run at around 6pm.
The rest of the day would be packed with high protein meals using ingredients like salmon, eggs and chicken breast, plus protein shakes and fruit.
Avasilcai explained the high protein diet was necessary to ensure Fiennes, at 62, would have the energy to train and carry out long days on set without fear of injuring himself.
Fiennes has previously revealed that, contrary to some fans’ comments, he was never trying to achieve a ‘bulked-up gym body’ and instead wanted to look like ‘a bit of old rope’ in playing Odysseus.
Speaking to the Guardian, The Return’s director Umberto Pasolini said: ‘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, a lived body.’
Regardless of roles, it seems the strict fitness regime is now a way of life for Fiennes, who has forged friendships via the gym.
Chi Lewis-Parry, Fiennes’s 28 Years Later co-star, has revealed how he and the veteran actor bonded over lifting weights in between filming.
Speaking to Variety, the 6ft 8in star said he and Fiennes were ‘best buds’.
He added: ‘We go to the gym and work out together a lot.’
And as audiences and critics alike are wowed by Fiennes in Danny Boyle’s long-awaited third instalment of the apocalyptic zombie thriller, the thespian’s gym sessions are clearly grabbing viewers’ attention.
Fans who have seen the zombie film have taken to social media to express their awe at his physique.
One person wrote: ‘Ralph Fiennes is ripped!!!! Ripped!’
Another joked: ‘I was very attracted to Ralph Fiennes in 28 Years Later when I should not have been. I am beyond repair.’
However, plenty of viewers thought it was perfectly reasonable to be attracted to the ‘sexy’ star in his ripped state.
One viewer said: ‘HELLO Ralph Fiennes???’
Another simply said: ‘How sexy is Ralph Fiennes.’
Critics have lauded the esteemed actor’s performance in the thriller as ‘towering’ in the role of Dr Kelson – but if viewers’ verdicts are to be believed, Fiennes’s bulging biceps will be just as enthralling.
