Jamie Foxx bulks up for Mike Tyson biopic and reveals how he's preparing for the role

The film star has had to stick to a strict exercise regime as he plays the legendary boxer
Kimberley Bond19 June 2020
The Weekender

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Jamie Foxx has revealed a sneak-peek of his epic transformation as he prepares to play Mike Tyson in an upcoming biopic.

The 52-year-old has been training to play the world heavyweight champion, revealing the results of his gruelling work-outs during an Instagram Live chat with American producer Mark Birnbaum.

Discussing the long-awaited project, Foxx told Birnbaum: “What I’m doing right now is changing the body.

“Now what I do every other day, I do sixty pull ups, we do sixty dips, we do 100 push ups – changing the body.”

The actor will play the boxing legend in a long-awaited biopic

However, the Django Unchained star laughingly admitted that while the top half of his body was in good shape, the bottom half may still need work.

“I ain’t got no legs! I ain’t got no calves, so we’re going to have to get some prosthetics for that – we’re going to be shooting the top half,” he joked.

In Pictures | Mike Tyson

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Foxx added that his muscular physique will start at 216lbs (15st 4lbs) when filming eventually starts, and will start to creep up as production continues.

Showing a picture of his rippling muscles, Foxx said: “We will balloon to 225 to 230lbs, to look like 250lbs on screen.

“We’re on our way!”

Foxx has been linked to the biopic for nearly seven years
Getty Images for BET

Stunned at Foxx’s weighty transformation, Birnbaum said: “Wow, you look like a young Mike.”

A Tyson biopic starring Foxx has been hinted at for some years now, with the boxer himself fuelling the rumours of an upcoming film.

Speaking in 2013, Tyson said: “Me and Jamie Foxx are in discussion, and we’re gonna do it.

“Within a year to 18 months, we're going to do the Mike Tyson story and he's going to portray me, and now they have this new animation; because you know Jamie's pretty much my age so he can't portray me but they have this new system.”

Anti-ageing technology has since come on leaps and bounds, with Martin Scorsese's Netflix epic The Irishman using innovative digital de-ageing on his lead Robert De Nero, Al Pacino and Joe Pesci.

And with Foxx flaunting his newly-honed muscular physique, it seems the ball is finally rolling on the Tyson biopic.

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