You’d be forgiven for thinking Hollywood’s unrealistic demands for tiny, toned torsos would be outdated in the modern age.
But when svelte comic Jack Whitehall stripped off to reveal his “pallid, flappy body” (his words) in an upcoming film, it prompted stern words from his agent.
“I’m very willing to get naked for a laugh, and make myself look quite vulgar,” Jack says, cheerfully.
“I’m not ashamed of my body. It’s funny to shove yourself down into the dirt and humiliate yourself for a laugh.”
Alas, sadly, not every audience member agreed at a recent screening.
“I watched the first cut of a movie I did this year, and there’s a sequence where I’m stripped and my clothes are ripped from me,” he continues on the Manatomy podcast.
“My agent said, ‘The movie’s great – but you have really got to hit the gym. To be a really successful actor in this town, you’ve got to hit the gym.’
“He had been watching through gritted teeth thinking, ‘Oh my God, why does my client look like that? Why is he so unashamedly willing to present that body to the world?’
“It hadn’t crossed my mind,” admits the 33-year-old, who took the advice in good humour.
“I’d watched my pallid, flappy body lolloping around and thought, yeah that’s funny.”
