Jack Whitehall has claimed that his agent told him he needed to hit the gym after he stripped off for a forthcoming film role.
The 33-year-old British comic and actor said he was given “stern” words by his agent after they had watched an early cut of a scene in which he gets semi-naked.
Speaking on the Manatomy podcast, Jack said: “I’m very willing to get naked for a laugh, and make myself look quite vulgar.
“I’m not ashamed of my body. It’s funny to shove yourself down into the dirt and humiliate yourself for a laugh.”
He added: “I watched the first cut of a movie I did this year, and there’s a sequence where I’m stripped and my clothes are ripped from me.
“My agent said, ‘The movie’s great – but you have really got to hit the gym. To be a really successful actor in this town, you’ve got to hit the gym’.
“He had been watching through gritted teeth thinking, ‘Oh my God, why does my client look like that? Why is he so unashamedly willing to present that body to the world?’.
“It hadn’t crossed my mind. I’d watched my pallid, flappy body lolloping around and thought, ‘Yeah that’s funny’.”
Jack has two movies due to hit the big screen this year, the romantic comedy Silent Retreat and the sci-fi outing Robots, although it is unclear which film he was discussing.