For the past decade, Brett Goldstein has been taking his training seriously. The 46-year-old first got dedicated to the gym while preparing to play a superhero in Superbob, then stuck with it after realising just how much better regular exercise made him feel.
But it wasn’t until writing and starring in Office Romance alongside Jennifer Lopez that he decided things needed to step up a gear.
With a beach scene opposite J-Lo in the script, Goldstein told his then-trainer Jeff Yahiro that he wanted to train more – and considerably harder – to get himself into even better shape. Yahiro initially disagreed. Then he found out who Goldstein would be sharing the scene with.
‘I said, “I’m playing a lawyer,” and he goes, “I don’t like it in films when lawyers are really jacked. I think you’re in good enough shape,”‘ Goldstein tells MH. ‘Then a week later he came back and went, “I’ve been thinking about this. It’s with J-Lo?” I said, “Yeah.” He said, “We’ve gotta get working.”‘
Yahiro’s advice was simple: lift heavier and train with more intensity. It worked. Goldstein is in great shape – muscular, lean, but still attainable.
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There is one thing that makes Goldstein something of an anomaly among Hollywood’s shirtless leading men, though: a full chest of hair.
‘I only realised when I first went to LA what an anomaly I was,’ he says. ‘When I first went in a rooftop pool, I think someone called pest control.’
It certainly hasn’t held his career back. Goldstein even landed the role of Hercules in 2022’s Thor: Love and Thunder.
‘Marvel didn’t have any issue with it,’ he says. ‘It’s probably why they cast me – the chest hair.’
Read our full interview with Brett at this link. You can subscribe to Men’s Health by clicking here.
Ryan is a Senior Writer at Men’s Health UK with a passion for storytelling, health and fitness. Having graduated from Cardiff University in 2020, and later obtaining his NCTJ qualification, Ryan started his career as a Trainee News Writer for sports titles Golf Monthly, Cycling Weekly and Rugby World before progressing to Staff Writer and subsequently Senior Writer with football magazine FourFourTwo.
During his two-and-a-half years there he wrote news stories for the website and features for the magazine, while he also interviewed names such as Les Ferdinand, Ally McCoist, Jamie Redknapp and Antonio Rudiger, among many others. His standout memory, though, came when getting the opportunity to speak to then-Plymouth Argyle manager Steven Schumacher as the club won League One in 2023.
Having grown up a keen footballer and playing for his boyhood side until the age of 16, Ryan got the opportunity to represent Northern Ireland national futsal team eight times, scoring three goals against England, Scotland and Gibraltar. Now past his peak, Ryan prefers to mix weightlifting with running – he achieved a marathon PB of 3:31:49 at Manchester in April 2025, but credits the heat for failing to get below the coveted 3:30 mark…
You can follow Ryan on Instagram @ryan.dabbs or on X @ryandabbs_