You just turned 40. How does that feel?
"It’s great! Forty is like the new 25. I feel better physically than I did in my 30s and definitely in my 20s. I’m not prone to make the same mistakes that I made in my 20s. I’m a little smarter and definitely have more money in the bank. Getting older has its benefits."
How do you maintain your physique and health?
"Probably right around True Blood and Magic Mike—that chapter of my career where I had a lot of these physical roles—was a great excuse for me to see how healthy I could get. And what a difference it made. Heading into my 40s, I really thought, I’m going to be 40 in a couple of years; I should make sure that these years are healthy and I’m pushing as hard as I can. Because, for example, the trainer that I’ve had for the past seven or eight years [Ron Mathews] became the world’s fittest man over 45, and so I looked at him as a model for me."
How ripped were you before Magic Mike and True Blood?
"I’ve worked in film and television since I got out of school, starting with Spider-Man [2002], and built for that. What dictated my getting into the kind of shape I was in for True Blood and Magic Mike was recognizing that it’s work. If you’re going to play a character that’s described in the novel as being built [as in True Blood], then you’re kind of lazy if you don’t do that. And in Magic Mike, if you don’t look like you’re in the best shape of your life, what are you really doing? Do you want to be an actor? Do you want to be successful? Do you want to make money? Do you want to have a career?"
Did you worry after Magic Mike about being typecast?
"I remember when I got the first script for Magic Mike, I was working with Chris Rock and I kind of put my head in my hands, and Chris said, “What’s up?” I told him, “I got this script to read, this offer, this movie. It’s about male strippers.” And he kind of made a face like “Mmm” and said, “Well, who’s directing it?” I told him it was Steven Soderbergh, and he said, “You’ve gotta do that movie.” My response was: “I know, but I have my shirt off a lot on True Blood, and now I’ll have my shirt off in this movie. I’m worried that people aren’t going to be able to see past that and actually look at the work.” And he said, “Look, man, Brad Pitt had his shirt off for 15 years; he’s doing just fine.” Look, True Blood was my big break, but when you do A Streetcar Named Desire at Yale [Repertory Theatre] and the first half of the review talks about your physique, it’s like, Jesus Christ, you know I can act, right?"
Does it frustrate you that the media seems to always focus on that?
"It is what it is. I think the vast majority of writers ask me questions about the work, but they don’t care about the work. It’s the physique questions or the relationship questions that wind up becoming the clickbait that kind of covers up the project that I’m in."
Speaking of which, it must have been nice to get a call for a movie where they don’t care about your physique.
"It’s the Smurfs! It’s a cute movie about little blue people who go on adventures. It’s going to be fun. But once again the press is like, “So your Smurf has his shirt off?” Every Smurf has his shirt off—they all do!"
How do you let loose?
"I’m an avid reader, so I’m always reading something. I love just hanging out with my wife. We just have a great time together—we’re great, we just laugh all day long. If I had my choice, it would be just jumping in the car with my wife and taking a weekend trip somewhere."
Read the full interview at Ocean Drive.
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