JAI COURTNEY CAN dance. The 39-year-old Aussie actor doesn’t want to leave any doubt in the public’s mind, even if one of the details in the “Early Life” section of his Wikipedia page is about his poor performance in a drama school ballet class.
“You can see how much of a failure I was in Dangerous Animals,” he says of his most recent film, currently in theatres. For one scene, Courtney’s deranged serial killer sailor Tucker puts on a tour de force dance performance to celebrate offing his latest victim – and Courtney had to improvise the moves. “I was daunted by this scene that was coming up on the schedule for obvious reasons, but it was a lot of fun. I think my ballet teacher would be proud.”
Courtney might not be a pro ballet dancer, but anyone who’s watched any of his muscular film performances knows that he can still move. From early in his career as a gladiator in Spartacus: Blood and Sand to his time in the DCU as Captain Boomerang in both Suicide Squad films, Courtney has brought always sense of physicality to the screen.
That physicality is still present when he’s not in top shape – as was the case for Dangerous Animals. Courtney’s killer is more a “salty sailor” than a muscle-bound crewman – so his prep wasn’t exactly the same as it has been for his superhero films. “I didn’t really want that character looking like he stepped out of the gym,” the actor explains. “So I kind of put everything down, ate, and drank a lot of beer.”
So that finds Courtney in a spot we don’t often see with celebrity fitness plans: getting back to normal. He stopped by the MH Fitness Hub in New York City with trainer Arthur Gioulekas to show off the type of workout routine he’s using to bounce back – and a few ballet moves for good measure, too.
Jai Courtney’s back to bench workout
Warm-up
Perform for three rounds
Trunk twist/rotation alternating dumbbell press tall kneeling external rotation to press
The workout
Bench press
3 sets of 4 reps
Single-arm dumbbell row
4 sets of 8 reps
Seated Arnold press
4 sets of 8 reps
Banded pull-aparts
3 rounds of 8 to 10 reps
Triceps extension
3 rounds of 12 to 15 reps
This article originally appeared on Men’s Health US.
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