You may have lusted after Charlie Bewley in Twilight or Nashville, but it’s for his latest role in Viking blockbuster Hammer Of The Gods that he’s really pulled out all the fitness stops. ‘I did tons of rowing,’ he says. ‘Hours and hours of it. It was like, “How much rowing can I do in a day? The machine’s gonna break before I do”, that kind of thing.’ The sexy Leicester-born actor can now also handle a broadsword, so he’s definitely got that protective thing going. But let’s look at a few more reasons why Charlie Bewley should be your new wellness crush:
1. He Skips: ‘I’ve recently started skipping loads,’ says Charlie. ‘I’m getting addicted to skipping. I feel like my legs are actually getting younger as I skip and it absolutely shreds you down – I’ve lost something like a stone [6.3kg] just from skipping. Skipping is easier to do than running because you don’t need to find a route, you can just get out there, stick on some Armin van Buuren and get to it.’
2. He Runs, Endurance-Style: Charlie recalls, ‘I did an ultra – well, a half marathon before a full marathon – but that wasn’t too hard, it was kind of a race against myself. My toughest race was probably a half Ironman. It was my first ever triathlon, and I did it in Mexico. It was absolutely baking, my shoes were melting on to the Tarmac. It was such a horrible experience – I did it by myself and when I finished I was like, “There’s nobody here to see it!” I almost started crying.’ We’ll run the next one with you, Charlie!
3. He’s Loves Training: ‘I get in a really bad mood if I don’t exercise,’ Charlie asserts. ‘It’s not something I have any choice over, with the parts I’m playing, but I really do love exercise. I like Spartan races, I like feats of human endeavour, I used to love doing half marathons and things like that. There’s a point about 15 minutes into a good run in the hills when I feel awesome – it’s like having my own little adventure every day.’
4. He’s Motivated: Charlie enthuses, ‘You’ve got to generate the stakes in your own head. You’ve got to decide, why do you want this for yourself? What is there about this race that makes you want to do it? We’re all alone, we’re all born alone, we’re all going to die alone, but we might as well do something in the meantime. I’ve always said you should find out who you are, because you don’t know what’s coming – you should work it out in case the apocalypse happens or something. I think it’s important to find the warrior within you before you find the war.’
5. And, Just in Case We Haven’t Mentioned it, He’s a Viking: To get in shape for the role, Charlie notes, ‘I carried a sandbag everywhere I went and filled it up wherever I was. It was like, empty out the Argentine sand, add in the Venice Beach sand. I do a lot of rotational stuff with it, a lot of twisting and carrying. It’s a real a lifesaver because out in places like Morocco there’s nothing, no other way to train…I had a broadsword I’m supposed to have had all my life, so I spent a lot of time working on that with our stunt team and I hope that comes across. It was such a great learning experience. Richard Ryan is a great stunt director, he really knows his stuff.’
