Jonah Hauer-King sheds muscle to fit in 'The Little Mermaid'

Jonah Hauer-King got too shredded for The Little Mermaid, leading the director to ask the star to lose muscles for the role.

During an interview with Insider, the actor's trainer Sana Shirvani revealed that due to the pandemic, the production of the film halted, leading Hauer-King to train extra, which left him too much bulky for the required seafaring prince role.

"It was a standard bodybuilding program, so we would do, for example, back and biceps, chest and triceps," she said.

"We would focus solely on getting a little bit of strength, a little bit of size into his body."

Shirvani added, "A little, however, became a lot. We got him to that point, and then obviously if he continued training in that capacity, he was only going to get bigger and bigger."

"I remember the director coming up to me and saying, 'We are not after the Incredible Hulk, we want a strong sailor boy.'"

To trim down the extra muscles, the 27-year-old's trainer lessened his training and boosted his calorie intake with protein.

"He was so, so dedicated," Shirvani said. "His professionalism was so good that he just said yes to everything I threw his way."