Rupert Everett recalls regretful experience in search for Hollywood roles

Rupert Everett says intense focus on building muscle in the 1990s has left him with long-term physical problems.

The 67-year-old actor has revealed in a recent interview that his former workout routine has now left him “almost crippled” and with ongoing tendon and joint issues.

“I ruined myself,” he told UK newspaper The Guardian earlier this week, regretting having avoided proper recovery practices like stretching while lifting weights.

“Now I’m almost crippled as a result. I could never be bothered to do all those things, like stretching, which were necessary for lifting weights, because your tendons get tighter and tighter. So boring. I didn’t do any of that. So now my demise will be musculoskeletal, I think.”

Everett also noted that his muscle-building phase during Hollywood roles was short-lived, describing it as his “Hollywood year.”

“I was wonderful-looking at one point,” he continued. “I had muscles. Everything. It was quite short-lived. I call it my Hollywood year.”

Looking back, he said he often felt insecure and as though he was missing out on a “mythical life” elsewhere.

He also admitted he often used padded bodysuits early in his career to look bigger on screen.

“I met these two queens in Tufnell Park [an area of North London] who made bodysuits, and they made me a false bottom, false calves, false shoulders, false everything,” he said, adding that directors would never know because he would “go into the fittings for the costumes with all my things on.”

Everett is currently appearing in the second season of Rivals.