Bodyguard's Richard Madden speaks out on "unrealistic" weight demands put on actors: "It doesn't just happen to women"

Madden, who is among those rumoured to play the next James Bond, said that being told to shed weight for jobs in the industry “doesn’t just happen to women”.

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"We're projecting a very unrealistic body image,” he told Vogue.

"I find myself with actor friends, after we've done a kind of barely eating, working-out-twice-a-day, no-carbing thing for these scenes, looking at each other going, ‘We're just feeding this same s*** that we're against.’

"I've done numerous jobs where you're told to lose weight and get to the gym," he added.

Madden also revealed he has had his fat rolls pinched and been given costumes so tight they feel like a corset. “It doesn't just happen to women, it happens to men all the time as well," said the 32-year-old.

Madden has previously said that being told to lose weight for a role "actually gets in the way of the job".

“Not everyone walks around with six-packs – unless you’re on Love Island,” he told Mr Porter.

The actor will next be seen in the Elton John biopic Rocket Man, which hits UK cinemas in May 2019.