Jonah Hauer-King Talks Bulking Up for ‘The Little Mermaid’

Jonah Hauer-King may have worked a little too hard in preparation. The Little Mermaid!

According to the 28-year-old British actor’s personal trainer, Sana Shirvani, it got to the point where he started looking like a certain green Marvel character before filming.

Shirvani told Insider: “I remember the director coming to me and saying, ‘We’re not after the Incredible Hulk; we want a strong sailor boy.'”

Playing Ariel’s beloved Prince Eric in the Disney movie, Hauer-King was initially put into a traditional bodybuilding program to develop “back, biceps, chest and triceps” for three months before shooting.

When the COVID-19 pandemic brought production to a halt in March 2020, Hauer-King continued training for eight months until production began, and he began to look too muscular for the role, his trainer shared.

“We got him to that point, and then if he continued training in that capacity, he would only get bigger,” Shirvani said.

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As a result, Hauer-King’s training was curtailed, and he took in excess calories with plenty of protein.

“He was very, very dedicated,” Shirvani continued. “His professionalism was so good that he said yes to everything I put in front of him.”

Shirvani told Insider that Hauer-King, who had ACL surgery 18 months prior to filming, made sure she was comfortable enough in her workouts and focused on rebuilding her knee strength so she could do her own stunts on set.

“He was still fairly new to sports training, so strengthening him was one of our top priorities,” he explained.

Last month, Hauer-King, Hollywood Reporter Harry Styles is also in talks for him about taking on the role of Prince Eric.

“He’s pretty cool and incredibly talented, so yeah, it’s great to be mentioned in the same breath,” Hauer-King said of Styles, 29.

Director Rob Marshall confirmed weekly fun Back in April, she said she talked to Styles about playing her love interest in the movie.

However, 62-year-old Marshall said, referring to Styles’ R-rated 2022 films, “he felt he really wanted to go and make movies that were a little bit darker, which he did.” don’t worry darling And My Police.