To prepare for his role as warrior God, Erlang Shen, the actor was asked by director Derek Kwok to build up to a physique that is similar to Chris Hemsworth and Shawn agreed to it readily. He halted all work subsequently and spent as much as six days a week training in the gym for 10 months.
The 36 year-old also had to adhere to a strict diet which prohibited any consumption of starch and sugar. With only six strawberries for dinner, he would savour every piece of it and will take as long as 10 minutes to finish them as he said, “I had to eat it slowly, so I can trick my mind into believing that I’m eating more, because I was really hungry”.
He continued, “I once bought a strawberry cake secretly after training when I was on the verge of breaking down and I teared when I ate it, because my body was too deprived of sugar for such a long time”.
Despite injuring his back during training, the actor was not allowed to rest and was forced to keep going by his fitness instructor, who he no longer blames and is now deeply grateful for. “It’s difficult to describe this feeling, but you just have to overcome your limits and keep telling yourself that you can do it, and you will,” he said.
Shawn got all choked up when he recalled a time where he cursed at his fitness instructor and the latter said, “You don’t have to like me. As long as people like who you are now, that’s enough for me”.