Victor Martinez: Hollywood Embraced Massive Muscle Only When They Ran Out Of Ideas
Victor Martinez reacts to Chris Hemsworth’s recent comments about being typecast because of his physique.
Chris Hemsworth recently made headlines by stating that he often gets overlooked for certain roles due to his impressive physique. Basically, he’s being typecast for action and comedy roles base more on his body than his acting ability. The intersection between massive muscle and movies have been a rollercoaster ever since Arnold Schwarzenegger burst onto the scene and became a star. In our latest GI Exclusive, pro bodybuilder Victor Martinez reacts to Chris Hemsworth’s recent statement and reflects on muscle in Hollywood.
For many bodybuilders, movies provided a first glimpse into seemingly impossible mass monster physiques. It inspired an entire generation to become professional bodybuilders. But muscle in Hollywood has risen and wained over the decades. Today we seem to be at an intersection. Superhero movies are bringing bigger physiques back after nearly a decade of slimmer more conditioned bodies.
However, a massive physique seems to still be seen as more of a gimmick. Something that gets headlines due to an impressive transformation. Or worse, something that typecasts certain actors into only action roles. Chris Hemsworth is an actor who spoke out about this recently.
During our new interview with Victor Martinez, we asked for his reaction to Chris Hemsworth’s statements. In some ways, massive muscle is back as a selling point in Hollywood. Actors like The Rock are garnering in millions of dollars. Hemsworth himself is likely doing financially very well after starring as Thor in multiple Marvel movies. Is this typecasting? Or just playing to the actor’s strengths?
Check out our GI Exclusive segment with Victor Martinez above!
Victor Martinez thinks that Hollywood still sees massive muscle mostly as a gimmick. In fact, Martinez believes that the only reason Hollywood even hires massive muscular actors is due to the fact that big studios have run out of ideas.
“Hollywood embraced muscular physiques when they ran out of things to do and Marvel comics and DC took over,” Victor Martinez claims in our interview. He continues:
“That’s when they embraced it. But Hemsworth being Thor and getting too big, you know, like bodybuilders in the past like Arnold was. You get typecast. You become a bodyguard, you become a bad guy, you die in the first scene.”
While Victor Martinez doesn’t mention more about Arnold Schwarzenegger. In some ways, Hollywood had never embraced massive muscle the same way again after Schwarzenegger’s heyday. Predator comes to mind as a movie that combined so many massive physiques together. They weren’t villains. They were heroes. And they could all damn well act.
Even today in Hollywood, with 20 superhero movies releasing per year, there are very few physiques that match the kind of mass monster size seen in the 80s. Perhaps that is why actors like Chris Hemsworth feel typecast. Muscle is still seen as an oddity – even after so many years of it rising in popularity.
You can watch Victor Martinez go into more detail about Chris Hemsworth and muscle in Hollywood by watching our latest GI Exclusive interview segment above!
