Alexandra Daddario has made a career out of looking bikini fit for roles. She’s had to be fit for gigs like The White Lotus and San Andreas, but the real test for her was Baywatch, a movie in which the actress not only had to look good in swimwear, but also had to be able to really move in said costume. Recently, her trainer on the movie revealed it took a lot more work than you might guess to earn her Baywatch bod.
The actress has said in the past she started training for a bigger butt with Baywatch, but I guess I didn’t realize the intense work that went into that. In fact, it took a whopping six months to whip her into shape before filming even started, and her trainer Patrick Murphy was really candid about their goals in an interview with Women’s Health.
I started training Alexandra six months before shooting Baywatch. I like getting actors where they need to be way before day one of the shoot to reduce any stress of not feeling or looking ready. It also means maintenance training, in the last month, is fun. Consistency over time will yield maximal results!’
Listen, I expect to hear intense stories about months and months of workouts when someone signs on to play a Marvel character. However, Baywatch was essentially an R-rated comedy with some action components, so it’s a little shocking it would require that many months of effort to gain the level of fitness required to be comfortable with bikini closeups. Obviously it did take a lot of effort behind-the-scenes before filming even started. The maintenance piece during filming actually sounds like the more fun part.
It makes sense, though. Daddario’s co-star in the movie Zac Efron notably also put a ton of work in after landing the gig to get down to a really minute body fat percentage. He has said repeatedly he does not recommend training this way for anything, noting he could feel “the lack of carbohydrate.’ He also said worrying about only having a four-pack instead of a six-pack due to water weight in certain scenes also left him incredibly stressed out, and called the whole Baywatch experience “stupid.”
It was tough on Efron, though Alexandra Daddario has called her own look at the time a “sexier, hotter version of myself.” She said that before Baywatch, she was all about “hot yoga” and that it took her partnership with Patrick Murphy to realize how important strength training actually is for her health.
I did a lot of hot yoga. I sort of thought that was all I needed. I still do hot yoga, but I felt so much stronger when I incorporated strength training into my routine.
The trainer and the star have continued to work together in the years after Baywatch hit theaters, noting she feels “stronger and healthier” since she’s gotten into a routine with the popular celebrity trainer, who also marks Zac Efron, Keanu Reeves and more among his celebrity clients. Baywatch faced headwinds with bad reviews, and may not have moved the box office needle a ton, but it certainly got the actress moving, and it sounds like it’s been a major positive in her life.