Following the cancellation of Suits LA, Stephen Amell is setting his sights on another high-profile project, and this one will take him out of the office and into the sand. The Arrow star was recently cast in the highly-anticipated Baywatch reboot as Captain Hobie Buchannan, the son of David Hasselhoff’s Mitch Buchannan. He’s already starting to prep for the show, and that means getting ready to run on the beach shirtless. Despite Amell being know for his physique, I really appreciate his candid take on what's coming next.
Of course, Amell is known for his rigorous training, having spent eight seasons as Oliver Queen/The Green Arrow on The CW. Having also appeared on American Ninja Warrior and done plenty of shirtless scenes for Heels, he's used to being fit. Baywatch will be different, though.
Amell got real about the kind of prep he’ll be going through while speaking with THR, but despite trying for "sustainability" as he hits his mid-forties, it still might not be enough to compete with his co-stars:
The prep is to think about sustainability. I don’t want to trick my body into looking a way that I can’t deal with, especially if I’m having to get in the Pacific Ocean in March when it’s like 58 degrees or something. The big thing for me at this age is nutrition — really nutrition and then consistency in the gym. And then understanding that no matter how hard I work, we are going to cast someone in their early 20s on this show and they’ll be able to roll out of bed with an eight-pack and there’s not a thing I can do about it. I’ll focus on having other strengths. I’m the veteran, the old guy.
It’s definitely tough to be in that kind of position, knowing that you are giving 110%, and someone half your age is able just to go do the same thing with no problem.
Now, Amell is 44, and he looks fantastic. I mean, he probably wouldn't have been cast in Batwatch if producers didn’t think he could look the part. Unfortunately, he also has to look the part while standing next to 20-somethings who can probably chow down on cheeseburgers than don swim trunks with no real concern. But that’s the price of aging, as he said:
Time waits for no man.
It may not seem like much, but it really takes a lot to admit that you aren’t where you used to be physically as you continue to get older. However, Amell can, and he sounds just grateful to be able to throw down with the youngsters decades after becoming famous in Hollywood. If anything, he has proven time and time again that he has the mentality and physicality to really pull off any kind of training -- remember those salmon ladders?! --he’s just a little older now.
At the very least, Amell won’t be the oldest lifeguard on that beach. It was recently announced that OG Baywatch cast member David Chokachi will be returning as Cody Madison, who now runs the bar-and-grill The Shoreline, while still occasionally putting on the red trunks to save lives and serving as a mentor to the younger lifeguards. So it should be fun to see how those two do with the other lifeguards.
As of now, additional casting for Fox’s Baywatch reboot has not been shared, so it’s unknown what other actors will be joining Amell and Chokachi and giving them a slow-mo run for their money. But it will be interesting to see who else will be donning the iconic red swimsuit and what kind of prep they’ll be doing.
