‘Creed III’ stars went beyond physical limits

DIRECTOR-ACTOR Michael B. Jordan’s Creed III is proving to be a knock out at the box office. The film is on course to open to a better-than-expected US$51.1 million (RM228.65 million) domestically for its first weekend.

The threequel sees Jordan returning in the role of Adonis Creed, a character first introduced in Ryan Coogler’s 2016 sleeper hit Creed, which revived the legendary Rocky film franchise. The plot follows Adonis as he comes out of retirement to face off with an old friend Dame Anderson, played by Jonathan Majors.

In a recent interview with Yahoo Entertainment, Jordan admitted that the hardest thing about preparing for the film was bulking up for the role.

The 36-year-old said: “It’s a commitment. And it’s not easy. The older you get, it gets a little bit harder. But I love exercise. I love working out and staying in shape.

“But walking around like that [in Creed shape] is really hard to do.”

Jordan added that he loved shedding all the extra muscle he put on, particularly when it came to finishing the movie, or as he put it, “sitting in this dark room, eating snacks.”

Hi co-star Majors also had a hard time getting into fighting shape, telling Yahoo Entertainment: “There were days when I couldn’t feel my arms.

“I shot all my fight scenes consecutively. That means I had four-and-a-half weeks of just fighting. And towards the end … I couldn’t feel my elbows. You live in a state of fatigue, you know? But you just get up and go.”

The efforts made by both actors obviously paid off, with critics and fans praising not only the stars’ powerful dramatic acting, but also the intense boxing scenes that make up the film’s climactic ending.

Jordan added: “It was a lot, on all of us. But you kind of know what to expect. You know what’s gonna happen. Your body’s gonna break down eventually, you know what I’m saying? As you’re pushing it to the max every day. But you just try to recover and keep it pushing.”