14 DAY TRIAL // With “Alex Cross,” Tyler Perry is hoping to become the next action movie star, perhaps of his own franchise if it does well. To prepare for the part, he hit the gym hard and completely overhauled his diet, transforming his body in the process.
Perry has never looked and felt better, being able to honestly say that he’s at a point in his life when he wouldn’t change a thing – professionally, physically, personally – about himself.
He tells the latest issue of Men’s Health that he vaguely regrets not taking the initiative to get in shape before “Alex Cross,” but he knows the timing was never right.
“I’ve worked my entire life to get to this place… The first 28 years of my life, it was hell and misery. Now I can do whatever I want. I don’t want any drama; I don’t want to argue; I don’t want to answer to anybody. I’ve worked too hard to get here, and I’m loving this freedom,” Perry says.
He’s also worked very hard to get in the best physical shape possible: by training hard and completely overhauling his diet, he dropped 30 pounds (13.3 kg) and got ripped.
Perry works out every day, twice a day: in the morning, his hour-long sessions include “cardio, body-weight moves, and free-weight and cable work,” Men’s Health writes, while in the afternoon, “he practices Krav Maga, an Israeli martial art he initially learned for the movie’s fight scenes.”
Granted, it’s not a routine that everyone can keep up but it wasn’t easy for Perry either. He also had to change his diet to get the best results.
“Scrambled egg whites, ground turkey chili, grilled chicken breasts, and green shakes” have replaced all those calorie-laden foods and treats that he was so fond of before.
The result is impressive: not only does he look good, but he also feels better about himself.
“I walk into a room with a lot more confidence. All my life I’ve tried to hide my height. I was taller than everybody else and stood out, so I would slouch and try to hide it. But with what I’ve been able to do with my body, I’m owning it. I’m standing up when I walk into a room,” Perry boasts.
As for the part that prompted this transformation in the “Madea” star, it’s the lead in “Alex Cross,” directed by Rob Cohen, a spinoff on the Morgan Freeman films “Kiss the Girls” and “Along Came a Spider.”
Matthew Fox plays the bad guy, with the film set to drop in US theaters this month.