Getting Camera Ready
Hires said he weighed about 132 before the show got picked up by CBS. But one of the show’s producers told him he needed to get his weight up – literally.
“When the show got picked up, I got a call from one of the producers saying, ‘make sure you’re in shape because you might have some shirtless scenes,’” Hires recalled.
His six-pack needed to be on fleek.
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“Before we started shooting the series, I was up to doing 700 pushups a day and 1,000 crunches a day,” Hires remembered. “I would do reps of 100 [pushups] and then reps of 200 crunches.”
Sometimes, while shooting the series, he would drop down between takes and do 50 to 100 pushups. Bulking up, for him, required consistency and even forcing himself to eat.
“It’s a little harder for me because I’m little and I have a fast metabolism and I’m not the person who loves to eat,” Hires said. “Some people love food. I’m one of those people where I just eat because I literally have to – to live.”
Outside of physical health, Hires believes in emotional wellness as well. The greatest thing about comedy, he says, is bringing joy to someone’s life when they’re having a bad day.
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“Everybody knows that stress can cause you to become physically ill,” he said. “So if someone is having a bad day or someone is going through troubling times, and they’re able to come out to a comedy club or watch a YouTube video I did in the past and laugh, I think it’s a tremendous thing.”
Watch the “Rush Hour” Season 1 trailer below.
Tiffany Walden (@Waldens_Block)