Jason Momoa went above and beyond to get into character as Aquaman.
With his 50-inch chest and 19-inch biceps, he brought the King of Atlantis to life on the big screen. But by the time he was done filming the Warner Bros.' Aquaman (in theaters Dec. 21), the 6-foot-4 actor was ready to let himself go. "I had to not really eat as much to stay lean. I'm Hawaiian—if we eat, we just get big. So, genetically, it's hard for me to get trim," he tells E! News. "You deplete yourself of carbs, so I had a harder time getting lean. I'd rather just get big."
"I'm not a fan of doing abs," Momoa adds. "It's tough...You can't drink beer!"
So, once production wrapped, he enjoyed indulged in his favorite foods. "I haven't touched a weight in nine months," the 39-year-old movie star reveals. "I'm just eating bread and butter!"
With a laugh, Momoa adds, "Every day is a cheat day!"
Momoa signed a multi-movie deal, so he's making the most of his time off between film installments. "Eventually I'll have to go back to being this guy," he says. "But right now? Nah."
As anyone can plainly see, all of Momoa's hard work paid off—something he noticed, too, after he first saw himself wearing Aquaman's iconic costume. "My first experience putting that suit on was looking at [director] James Wan, and he was so excited..." the actor recalls to E! News. "It's a beautiful suit. I think James, it was a big concern of his to get that right. Obviously, I wanted it right, but he wanted it in this movie and he killed it. The moment [I] walk out, it's a beautiful reveal. Walk out through a waterfall and slam a trident down? That was pretty cool."
For more from Momoa, watch E! News' exclusive video interview now.