This interview contains spoilers for The Suicide Squad.
Flula Borg loves to over-prepare. Which is probably an understatement for what went down when he was cast in James Gunn’s splashy new Suicide Squad project: about half of the movie’s core cast, including Borg, gets blown to bits in the first ten minutes of the movie. No matter, though: Borg, whose dumbbell knowledge went from “don't eat it” to getting in shape playing an Olympic javelin thrower turned supervillain, is so excited to have found a new hobby—and to be in the film—he doesn’t much care about the minutes he spends onscreen.
“I would have worked out for eight years in exchange for just one lower left calf shot” in the movie, Borg told GQ ahead of last week’s premiere. He gets more than a few ass shots, which he emphasizes are indeed of his real rear end and not the butt cushions the studio offered him to fill out his costume. And he gets to flirt with Margot Robbie, who proceeds to tote his javelin around through the rest of the movie. Most importantly, though, training as Javelin has led Borg to realize the whole fitness thing might not be so bad after all: he’s maintained the same workout schedule he set up before filming, and his mostly healthy eating habits have remained intact. These days, working out means heading to the gym with his trainer (now a close friend) and cathartically shoving some weights in the air.
Borg spoke with GQ about his athletic genes, his newfound goal-less approach to fitness, and how he got those supervillain-level buns.
For Real-Life Diet, GQ talks to athletes, celebrities, and everyone in between about their diet, exercise routines, and pursuit of wellness. Keep in mind that what works for them might not necessarily be healthy for you.
GQ: What was your fitness level like before you got cast as Javelin?
Flula Borg: I was like a disorganized idiot. I knew, like, what is a dumbbell, how do I hold it, where does it go, don't eat it. I knew basic things. My dad's genetics are very kind. It's like playing bumper bowling. He's just an effortless man who looks like whatever those statues are in Italy. I take very little credit.
So if you had to run, say, a 5K a year ago, would it have been a challenge?
That would've been terrible. A 5K sounds absolutely like a nightmare. You would need to tell me, why am I running this, what is at the end of the 5K? Is it a Sprinkles cupcake? Is it an Oscar? I would not do it unless there was a clear goal. That was the old me.
Did you exercise at all?
I played basketball and I like to ski. I did lift some weights, but I didn't have any guidance. That's why I hired this wonderful trainer, Paolo Mascitti. He's Italian, which is perfect because he doesn't understand me, I don't understand him, and we're screaming at each other all the time. He's an expert at whipping people into the shapes, which is thankfully what he did with me.
Were you given any guidance on how James Gunn wanted you to look for the role?
No, in superhero movies there's so much secrecy. I only knew that my character was an Olympic athlete. So I thought, number one, this means gaining some kilograms, gaining some coordination. I knew I needed to do these things immediately. I went to a fitting, where they take a 3D photo of your body and I'm, like, That does not look like a man who has visited the Olympics. Unless, like, in the chess competition. So I needed to make some changes.
What kinds of workouts were you doing?
We did four days a week of heavy weight training for about an hour, with high weight and low reps. Not a lot of cardio because we were trying to throw kilograms onto my buttox. Paolo always switched it up. So we did big muscle movements like pull-ups and deadlifts, but there was no clear routine. I was always confused, which I liked. I've been told it's good to confuse muscles.