How the ‘Rebel Moon’ Cast Transformed Into Shredded Sci-Fi Heroes

In Rebel Moon: Part One - A Child of Fire, director Zack Snyder builds a brand new sci-fi universe populated with a pantheon of familiar archetypes, setting the stage for explosive action sequences and intricate stunt work. And for the movie's leads, that meant spending a hell of a lot of time in the gym beforehand.

"I've gotten down in the gym before, but this was something else," Charlie Hunnam, who plays Kai, explains in a Behind the Streams cast interview. "I was really resistant to the training, I've got to say. I didn't know it was mandatory, I think that came as a shock to me. And then it was about the team building. I thought 'I don't want to show up on set with these guys having been through blood, sweat and tears together in the gym... I'm going to actually have to show up and do this. And it was wonderful."

Snyder has previously said that he likes to work out with his actors so that they're all in it together, and for Rebel Moon, he brought in his own trainer Alessandro Komadina to whip the male cast into shape.

"Part of his ethos is that by putting us through this rigorous physical experience, it allows us to settle into the character physically," says Staz Nair, who plays Tarak. "To be these warriors, to be these survivors."

Tarak, a Tarzan-like figure who speaks to animals and spends much of the film shirtless, is Rebel Moon's most sculpted character, a throwback to the long-haired, muscular heroes of Snyder's pulpy fantasy influences. And Nair had a very specific approach to carving that "chocolate block" six-pack. "I did zero cardio to get in that shape," he admits. "People assume to get lean, you have to do a lot of cardio, and it was all caloric deficit; dieting a certain way and then training very hard."

Ed Skrein, on the other hand, did "lots of cardio" to achieve the wiry, almost emaciated physique of villain Noble. "I remember the first time I saw Staz on set and thought, 'he looks amazing, I'm not supposed to look like that,'" he explains. "Noble does not look like that. So for me, it was about getting really, really lean, sinewy and vascular, and making it strange and weird and scary."

Ray Fisher, who previously worked with Snyder on Justice League, plays the larger-than-life warrior Bloodaxe. And while he's proud of the highly polished end result of all their hard work, he wants audiences to know that prepping for Rebel Moon was far from a glamorous experience.

"If you're watching a Hollywood movie and think it's all fun and games, glitz and glamor—we're not out at Equinox with the eucalyptus towels," he says. "We're literally in somebody's basement, sweating it out."

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