James McAvoy has addressed ongoing speculation about his dramatic physical transformation for the film “Glass,” setting the record straight about his muscle gains in a recent conversation on the Armchair Expert podcast with Dax Shepard.
The Scottish actor revealed that his journey to getting in superhero shape was complicated by a serious medical emergency. After a botched lung biopsy to check for potential cancer, McAvoy nearly lost his life when his lung collapsed while he was alone at home.
“I spent like two or three weeks in hospital. They tried everything to clean out nothing was working. So they were like we’re going to need to cut you open bag style,” he explained, describing how doctors had to surgically clean out an infection.
Following this harrowing experience, McAvoy had to prepare for ‘Glass’ while simultaneously filming an X-Men movie. Unlike ‘Split,’ where he admits he didn’t get that jacked due to only having two weeks’ notice before shooting began, ‘Glass’ required the real deal.
“I was the beast like most of the movie and I was just outside in broad daylight as well,” he said, meaning studio lighting tricks wouldn’t be enough this time.
McAvoy insisted on getting top-tier help. He worked with Magnus Lygdbäck, who McAvoy describes as looking “like a Viking.” The trainer spent the first four weeks rehabilitating him from his medical ordeal before rapidly building muscle mass.
The results were so dramatic that they sparked CGI rumors. Addressing speculation about a scene in ‘Speak No Evil,’ McAvoy was emphatic: “There was a shot in it where people are like, ‘You were CGI there. You were CGI.’ And I’m like, ‘I wasn’t.'”
When Shepard asked if he got hooked on the bodybuilding lifestyle, McAvoy confirmed: “I was hooked to it for about 3 years.” He remained at his largest until a 2024 film role in Germany required a different physique, prompting him to stop the intense training regimen.
Perhaps most notably, McAvoy addressed why his transformations appear so dramatic, offering a candid explanation about his genetics. He said, “My traps get too big too quick and then… my muscles just, they just develop. They just grow so easily.”
