Paul Rudd has opened up about his “horrible” and “restrictive” Marvel diet, revealing he would drink sparkling water as a “reward”.
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The Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania star described the strict measures he went to while appearing on the comedy food podcast Off Menu, which sees guests asked to recall their “dream menu” by hosts Ed Gamble and James Acaster.
When asked what kind of water he preferred, the 54 year-old actor told the comedians he was still a fan of sparkling.
“When I was having to train for the Ant-Man movie, and I was on a very restrictive diet, my reward was sparkling water,” he said, with an incredulous laugh. “That’s how horrible that diet was. I was like, ‘Alright, I can have some sparkling water now, I’ve earned it.’”
Rudd said that as he was training and “working out” so much, he would have “a lot of sparkling water” and joked that he would go for certain brands on a “cheat day”.
“Did it feel like a treat?” Acaster asked, to which Rudd replied: “Yeah, it was great. It wasn’t flavoured, I wasn’t gonna go crazy.”
Rudd added that he “kind of did it” for all the Marvel films, and that it was sometimes easier than expected. “Once you’re in it, it’s not too hard,” he said, admitting that the really “boring” diet actually gave him “tons of energy”.
Paul Rudd as Scott Lang and Jonathan Majors as Kang in ‘Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania’. Credit: Alamy
Acaster then asked Rudd if the other Marvel stars would “compare notes” when working together on ensemble films such as Avengers: Infinity War or its follow-up Endgame.
“I mean, I think people kind of are,” he responded, “but I also think I worked out harder than anyone, I would eat better than everyone, and I looked worse than all of them. I had to work out all the time, eat perfectly, just to look kind of bad. Not even great.”
“Was everyone snapping at each other though? Was everyone hangry?” Gamble asked. Rudd replied: “I don’t know… I remember on Endgame, Chris Hemsworth would always have these Tupperware containers and he’s eating this gruel, just a mash of stuff.
“He’s working out, and then you stand next to a guy like that, and I just think, well, what’s the point of any of this? Why am I killing myself when that can exist, and then I look at myself and this exists. I can never achieve that… That was the good thing at least – Ant-Man, it isn’t Thor. But I tried to work out, and it didn’t work.”
Over the years, a number of Marvel stars have spoken critically about the body transformation expectation for superhero movies.
In an interview with The Independent last year, Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3 star Will Poulter said that actors needed to prioritise mental and physical health over “aesthetic goals”, “otherwise you end up promoting something that is unhealthy and unrealistic if you don’t have the financial backing of a studio paying for your meals and training”.
Rudd is expected to reprise his role of Ant-Man in Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, which is currently in pre-production. He’s also set to reprise his role as Gary Grooberson in next year’s Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, which recently released its first official trailer.
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