Bustle Exclusive
The actor and onetime bodybuilder stars alongside Kristen Stewart in the debauched new film.
And then this movie came along, and I was like, Its fate.
But the final cut, while still filled with vomit and gore, doesnt include every gross-out scene.
So whatever youre seeing is definitely a toned-down version of what we filmed.
(Heres hoping for an extended DVD edition.)
Id love to start with your own history of bodybuilding.
I understand you participated in a few amateur competitions when you were younger?
Yeah, I did a couple, and it was eye-opening.
And I was like, How hard could that be?
It turns out its actually the hardest part, especially for me, not being a graceful human being.
And I was like, Am I not lean enough?
My suit didnt fit well, so I got docked points for that.
The next year I went with Ben Barkes, who is Mr. Indiana.
We decided to go into a nondrug-tested competition, and I got smashed.
I cant sustain that much muscle and cut that much weight and compete with amazing genetics or unnatural competitors.
It just wasnt for me.
Why do you think people still scoff at women with large muscles?
Challenging the status quo is always something people scoff at.
People get comfortable in normalcy.
But I think beauty is very personal and subjective.
Growing up, I was always really thin, but I felt beautiful when I put muscle on.
Its just so subjective.
At the same time, a lot of body builders are fetishized too.
Its weird that we put so much focus on bodies.
The film definitely seems interested in thinking about that.
What do you think its saying about bodies?
Theyre just flesh that we walk around in.
You start seeing Jackie become super big, like this 35-foot-tall woman.
Thats not reality; its how she perceives herself.
His little vessel is destroyed.
Theres a lot of fluid in this movie, literally.
What was it like on set?
Was there a lot of fake stuff flying around?
I just had the vomit… Oh, where I threw up Lou.
So that was just mushed up bananas, and it was delicious but gross.
But then Kristen was covered in, I dont even know, some slippery goo.
That was kind of scary because they had my stunt double hold her and drop her multiple times.
I guess they were worried I was going to really drop her.
The blood that explodes everywhere was super sticky and gooey.
It was very Tarantino.
And then, look, it was 112 degrees.
We were in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
I was sweating the whole time.
Its really hard to feel sexy when youre soaking in your own sweat.
Yeah, theres a lot of sex in this movie, which is fun.
Im glad were finallyseeing sex on screen again.
Did you and Kristen talk beforehand about how to approach those scenes?
We all worked together.
You work with the intimacy coordinator first and express what youre comfortable with.
We were all generally like, Yeah, we love this scene.
Lets not change anything unless camera angles [require] it.
Then wed discuss the scene with Rose and go over it with words.
And I was adamant to confirm that Kristen was comfortable, too.
I didnt want her to feel uncomfortable in any way.
But it was 112 degrees.
Anytime Kristen would pull the pants off, everything would rip off because I was too sweaty.
At some point I was like, Can I just wear underwear?
There were a lot of really sweet things to make it less of a disgusting and weird situation.
What was the most challenging scene to film?
More generally, what did you expect Kristen would be like to work with?
But even in the chemistry read, I could tell that was going to be the case.
She was super chill, laid-back, and seemed like a down-to-earth, totally normal person.
Thats all I couldve hope for, someone who was just as excited as I was to do this.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
