Josh Brolin Shares Tips On Building Superhero Muscle At 50

To say Josh Brolin has had a big year would be the understatement of the decade. Not only has he tried to destroy half the universe in Infinity War, taken down international drug rings in Sicario, time travelled through Deadpool 2, and turned 50... he's also got a baby on way. And he's tackling all of this in the best shape of his life.

After the success of the original Deadpool film, Marvel needed some serious filth and muscle to top their effort, and they found it in Brolin. But bulking up to play his character Cable didn't come easily to veteran actor; he had to stick to a serious diet.

"Totally clean: no sugar, no breads, no pastas, no drugs, none of it," said Brolin while filming and training for Deadpool 2. "Fish, rice, eggs, veggies, water, one [bullet proof coffee] in the morning. It's a different time: our access along with some big picture discipline results in always surprising milestones."

Although he has the diet mastered, being the in demand action-hero of the moment has made it even tougher for Brolin to commit to regular training program. However ole Thanos knows his way around a gym, and seemingly won't let a little hurdle get in the way of his results even if he can't make his 3 hours a day.

"Working more and less time to keep in the kind of shape I want to," he admitted on Instagram. "When you do it cleanly results are harder to earn but and you can lose them fast. But even if you can't put in a 2 hour workout of abs, cardio, weights and boxing, it's always nice to remind your body what kind of shape you want to stay in. 30 minutes today of random exercises: thrusters, push ups, lunges, burpees, straight bar rows, deadlift. Not too heavy but I feel it."

Brolin's commitment to both his fitness and work have proved extremely lucrative for movie studios, with his US Summer films raking in over $2.6billion globally, putting him in a rare league of exceptional earners.

To celebrate the his jacked self (oh, and the release of Deadpool 2 on DVD and digital), Brolin shared some insights into filming one of the funniest movies of the year with MH.

WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO JOIN THE WORLD OF DEADPOOL?

I was a little reticent at the beginning because I was doing Infinity War and I was in the middle of doing Avengers over a full year. The idea of doing a superhero or tentpole movie, while I wasn’t against it, I was just more focused on other types of movies and actors and directors. When this came along I definitely had an adverse reaction to it and it was my wife who said, ‘The reaction is all in your head, just read the thing and see what you think!’. I read it and I laughed my ass off for two hours. I just loved the satire in this and the irreverent tone of it. Ultimately Ryan has created such a smart tone that it was something that I wanted to try my hand at.

WHAT WAS YOUR APPROACH TO THE CHARACTER OF CABLE?

I don’t know my approach to any character. My approach to Cable was out of fear. Every movie feels like the first movie you ever do. When you get into this, you start to read comic books and it’s not really conjuring anything and it’s not igniting anything, so I reached out to Rob Liefeld and then he gives me his history of Cable having created it. Then Ryan has an idea about what he wants to do and then I take in all of the information. I liked this idea that Cable is presented as one thing and is then revealed as something that is not maybe as he’s cosmetically presented. I like characters like that and I like playing characters like that.

@bcorso is a genius. @robliefeld created this out of thin air. @vancityreynolds Pulled me in. And, ultimately, all I had to do was grunt. 🤘💪 Congratulations to all for such a huge success, and thank you to all the fans for making that possible. ❤️✊️

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE FILM’S IDEA OF FINDING A FAMILY WHEREVER YOU CAN FIND IT?

I’m in the business of that. Finding a family where you can find it as opposed to your own family and creating a familial existence wherever you are is something I’m very good at, even though I’m close with my own family. I’d rather be home and be personal with my own family than anywhere else, but the movie industry is wrought with creating a family for three or four months during a project. You get extremely close with people and then you can go away and not see them for 10 years, but then after 10 years when you see them it’s like no time has passed. That’s very present in our industry.

WHAT WAS THE ACTION LIKE FOR YOU IN THE MOVIE? WHAT WAS IT LIKE TO WORK WITH A MASTER OF ACTION LIKE DIRECTOR DAVID LEITCH?

It was difficult! I’ve been a fan of his for a long time. David Leitch as an action director is the best there is. There was a movie I saw called Atomic Blonde while we were shooting and there was a fight scene that he did in a hallway that was one of the greatest fight scenes I’ve ever seen. I’ve used his guys 87Eleven which is what he started as a stunt man and as a stunt coordinator. I did a four-and-a-half minute fight scene in Old Boy that was the hardest thing I’ve ever done conceptually. It wasn’t half as good as what I saw in Atomic Blonde, which I know had some cuts in it, but you couldn’t see them. Ultimately, working with David Leitch was very difficult in that he was so fluid with fight scenes. I’m pretty good, but he’d tweak it while we were doing the fight scenes and then it becomes kind of heady and then you end up getting hurt, not badly hurt, but maybe your shoulder and your knee. I loved the way the fights turned out and I think they’re amazing, but the palettes that he created were unique.

Working more and less time to keep in the kind of shape I want to. When you do it cleanly results are harder to earn but and you can lose them fast. But even if you can't put in a 2 hour workout of abs, cardio, weights and boxing, it's always nice to remind your body what kind of shape you want to stay in. 30 minutes today of random exercises: thrusters, push ups, lunges, burpees, straight bar rows, deadlift. Not too heavy but I feel it. Lifts my mood enough where I don't want to give up from experiencing those days of the perfect scenario. ...oh, yeah, then the pass out #💪 @prevailactivewear #cableswole @iambuilt

WHAT WAS THE TOUGHEST PIECE OF PHYSICAL ACTING THAT YOU DID ON THIS FILM?

Every single piece of acting was the toughest physically. The whole role! I’m 50-years-old, man. I feel everything when I wake up in the morning and by the time I go to sleep at night I feel it twice as much as I did in the morning. When you’re doing this sort of stuff, Advil is your friend.

AS YOU DON’T COME FROM A BACKGROUND OF COMIC BOOK LORE, WHAT IS IT ABOUT THIS FILM THAT YOU’D RECOMMEND TO EVERYONE?

That would be me. As someone who chooses to do Infinity War and chooses to do DEADPOOL 2, I represent the guy who didn’t know a lot about that stuff and that history and so it was an extreme discovery. I felt like I had missed out an entire life of some imaginative, brilliant innovation and the mythology and the lore around it. It’s kind of amazing how you can click it into the humanity and the satire and the human experience. There’s so much stuff I missed out on.

Quietly, the "Team" is killing it. It takes a small village: @justindlovato at @iambuilt, Jonathon Phillips @hbmaxmuscle, @goldsgym and some discipline. Just saw @davebautista at the gym and he said: "What the f*ck happened to you?!" Haha. Best compliment ever. Totally clean: no sugar, no breads, no pastas, no drugs, none of it. Fish, rice, eggs, veggies, water, one @bulletproof or @cavemancoffeeco in the morning. I'm almost 50. It's a different time: our access along with some big picture discipline results in always surprising milestones. Get on the train. #wedontfuckaround. #itaintthathard #startslowandlight @weprevail #ryanreynoldsismybitch

WHAT WILL AUDIENCES ENJOY ABOUT WATCHING THE FILM AT HOME?

After you’ve seen DEADPOOL 2 in theatres 15 or 16 times, the home experience for the next the next 30 or 40 times is so enriching and so satisfying that once you’ve seen the movie 45 times, you really start to understand it in a way that will allow you to grow in the future. If you don’t see the movie 45 times there will be genealogical problems.

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Scott Henderson

As a fitness addict, adventure sport lover, and passionate story-teller, Scott Henderson is committed to living the Men’s Health brand. When he’s not researching and writing about the latest health and fitness news, you’ll find him crushing it in the gym, running up a mountain, or out on the waves.