From West Point to Hollywood: Greg Plitt Interview
Greg Plitt Interview
Below is an interview I did with Greg Plitt where we discussed the transition from the military to being the world’s biggest fitness models. Enjoy!
Matt Weik: In this interview we are going to focus on your recent and upcoming movies you are in. How did you get into the acting side of the industry?
Greg Plitt: When I was at West Point, I began to date an actress in New York City and every time I came down to the city from West Point to hang out, she would always have me read lines with her so she could practice for whatever audition she had coming up.
I didn’t know the first thing about acting or lines or anything related to the subject, but what I did know is how amazing it was that this girl I knew had so many different characters within herself.
Unbeknown to me, a seed was planted that took root quickly and after Uncle Sam had finished with me and my requirement with the military, it quickly started to blossom into the career I am currently undertaking.
Matt Weik: You have always been in the spotlight for photo shoots. What is it like tackling the big screen?
Greg Plitt: Well, tackling the big screen is one of those impossible tasks, it is more like trying not to get tackled by it! Being in any movie is such a natural high and prideful moment. To be apart of so many professionals collective efforts that hopefully dives inside a person watching and causes a moment for them is magical.
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The process of being an actor where you travel in your mind to become a different person and character is one of the hardest tasks and, at the same time, most rewarding tasks I have ever done. Being a model on a photo shoot is all about capturing that instant moment that portrays a story, while film is capturing the story and telling it from start to end.
Matt Weik: What is it like being in movies and seeing yourself play in roles?
Greg Plitt: Seeing yourself in a movie is a mixed bag of emotions. Initially, you are excited and honored and see yourself as a means of accomplishment and culmination of tons of work wrapped up and delivered into a moment.
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The initial moment is just that though as you quickly become your own critic and evaluate your performance and judge the good and bad and find ways where you can improve to make it better.
Matt Weik: Were movies something you always wanted to get into?
Greg Plitt: Movies were always something I loved to watch and get inspired from, but I never thought about acting, modeling, or the entertainment world whatsoever growing up. For me, it was all about sports and schoolwork… where that was to lead was to be discovered.
Matt Weik: What was it like shooting in your first movie and what did you gain from that experience?
Greg Plitt: I got lucky out of the gate with acting. I crashed an audition in NYC when I just got out of the military. All I knew was the address of the casting director and timeframe they were seeing people. I walked in and made up an agency, put my number as their number, and waited for 3 hours until they finally let me in to audition out of sympathy I think.
The role was alongside Robert DeNiro and Matt Damon in The Good Shepherd and even though most of my lines were cut out of the film after being on set for 3 weeks, I got to see how the pros do it in Hollywood. I saw the best of the best perform in front of the camera and behind it and right out of the gate witnessed what ‘right’ was and what to aspire towards.
Matt Weik: How different are movies than photoshoots? Do you change up your diet or workouts?
Greg Plitt: Movies or any type of film, you don’t play yourself, you are simply a vehicle to project a character… almost as if the character’s ghost enters your body and pays rent for a while. A photo shoot is about you and your physique, where a movie role is about a character and the character’s instincts, not yours.
Depending on the role of the character will determine what your workout is to match the body and spirit of the character. Christian Bale in The Mechanist and then doing Batman shortly after is the perfect example of an actor changing up their workout for the role.
Matt Weik: You are currently in the movie “Watchmen” as the blue character known as ‘Dr. Manhattan’. They actually used your body and superimposed it onto another actor. Was it weird having them use your body and not having you play the whole role?
Greg Plitt: Being selected to play the role of Dr. Manhattan in Watchmen was a tremendous high for me. When the director, Zack Snyder, told me it would have cost millions to CGI a superhero and have all the muscles move like a human and when they found me in the shape I was in and perfect living superhero style, that I saved them millions, I felt so valuable to the film.
Would I have loved to played the part as well? Without a doubt, but this town is about finishing a marathon, not a sprint.
Matt Weik: How did they approach you for the role?
Greg Plitt: I got an audition from my agent in New York City to report to Warner Brothers to try out for a body part in a movie called ‘Watchmen.’ My first questions was, “What is ‘Watchmen’?”
They told me a quick back story and said I would be going out for the body of Dr. Manhattan. At the end of their explanation, I was still lost as to what the job entailed, but considering it was with Warner Brothers, I was all in.
Matt Weik: What was your diet and training like for this role?
Greg Plitt: My diet and training for the role was exactly the same as my normal fitness cover modeling training, considering that was the look they casted me from out of hundreds, figure I don’t go fixing something that wasn’t broken.
Matt Weik: You also just got done filming Terminator 4. What was that like?
Greg Plitt: Being on the set of Terminator Salvation (T4) was the highlight of my career to date! Growing up, I remember vividly watching Arnold in all the Terminator films with my cousins and friends.
I even remember dressing up as a Terminator for Halloween, and now to be apart of the history and name of such an unbelievable collection of work that has touched so many people in so many ways makes me prouder then words can describe.
To add honor to already an unbelievable opportunity, the director, McG, was a class act stud to work for. His energy and professionalism inspired me to work my @ss off and burn the midnight oil to give it my all.
