Every red-blooded man out there has heard for years that certain actors and musicians are huge and ripped. As bodybuilders, we roll our eyes at every girl who has gushed over the ‘Fight Club’ abs of Brad Pitt, the arms of Vin Diesel, and the delts of Kelly Ripa. Yes, sadly its true, the starving body of Kelly Ripa has become the envy of girls around the country. I guess Ethiopians are hot these days. I only wish more girls would put down the Us Weekly magazine and start reading articles on Nicole Wilkins or Erin Stern. Lately I noticed Hollywood is taking a turn for the better. Jessica Biel actually has some quality muscle on her. The Rock has never looked better since working with George Farrah, although rumors are he could be working with somebody else. And even Sylvester Stallone is still ripped to shreds at age 66. How can the media hate on anti-aging clinics when they produce results like Sly?
And it’s not just Hollywood getting in on the muscle trend. If you missed the latest training video with Victor Martinez you didn’t see the cameo appearance made by rapper Busta Rhymes. That guy went from being a little poodle with all bark and no bite to looking like he’s ready for either his first NPC contest or a MMA cage fight. Regardless, he must have put on 35lb since his last notable record.
The other rapper making noise in bodybuilding is Dr. Dre. I remember when he was a pudgy producer who never skipped a meal. Now, since working with IFBB pro Stan McQuay, Dre has put on a ton of muscle and, by all accounts, it looks like he’s even training his legs. More than I can say for about half of the men’s physique guys out there.
And I could never talk about musicians and bodybuilding without mentioning Henry Rollins. This guy has not only been in movies and released awesome rock songs, but in our little corner of the world he’s better known for his epic essay titled, “Iron and the Soul.” He wrote this piece almost 20 years ago and it’s still iconic for every meat head world-wide. Here is his famous line from the essay, “The Iron never lies to you. You can walk outside and listen to all kinds of talk, get told that you’re a god or a total bastard. The Iron will always kick you the real deal. The Iron is the great reference point, the all-knowing perspective giver. Always there like a beacon in the pitch black. I have found the Iron to be my greatest friend. It never freaks out on me, never runs. Friends may come and go. But two hundred pounds is always two hundred pounds.”
I can guarantee Justin Timberlake and Usher never had those thoughts come through their minds while they were pumping up for their latest music video by doing push-ups, sit-ups, and hot yoga classes.
And when talking about the female icons in Hollywood I can’t help but laugh. As anorexic as Kelly Ripa is, the equally skinny Angelina Jolie often plays the role of bad-ass chick in movies like ‘Mr. and Mrs. Smith’ and ‘Lara Croft: Tomb Raider.’ Do movie execs really think it’s plausible for a 110lb mal-nourished actress with boney shoulders to be able to handle the recoil of a 9mm gun or pull off an incredible kung-fu move on a 200lb stunt man? I say bring back the Linda Hamilton/Sarah Connor body from ‘Terminator 2’ for all women who plan on carrying an AR-15 assault rifle in their next action movie.
There’s even been some chick flicks known to carry some muscle. Angela Bassett, who played Tina Turner in the 1993 movie, ‘What’s Love Got to do With It,’ packed a ton of muscle for a Hollywood leading lady. I don’t remember too much about the movie besides Ike beating the shit out of poor Tina, but when she got up on stage to belt out “What’s Love!” I couldn’t keep my eyes off the striations in her delts.
I definitely appreciate an actor or musician who invests time in their physique. Some actors bulk up and cut down more severe than an off-season 260lb Kevin English trying to squeeze into the 202 weight class. Take Christian Bale—he got dangerously skinny for his role in ‘The Machinist’ only to pack the muscle back on for ‘The Dark Knight.’ 
Same goes for Matt Damon in ‘Courage Under Fire.’ Now, neither Bale nor Damon are bodybuilders, or by all accounts even into working out; but we as bodybuilders can respect them for having the strength to lose an incredible amount of bodyweight to improve their craft. Aside from the $20 million they make each film, at the end of the day, they’re going after an Oscar and we’re going after a gold plated medallion. Either way, it’s incredible sacrifice just for a trophy.
‘Pain and Gain’ is due out this April. I hope it doesn’t make a mockery out of bodybuilding. By the looks of things celebrities might be trending towards bigger, more muscular bodies going forward in the future. This can only be a good thing for our sport, but then again, I may be overly optimistic.
You can follow me on Twitter @MattMeinrod or on my website, www.MattMeinrod.com
