Steven Krueger is the versatile actor who first discovered fame by showing in “Fairly Little Liars” and “Two and a Half Males” earlier than bagging the memorable function of “Josh Rosza” on “The Originals.”

Now, as “Ben Scott” in “Yellowjackets,” Krueger performs the assistant coach to the younger ladies’s soccer group, however tells Muscle & Health that constructing his physique as much as the purpose that he’s plausible as a sports activities coach has not been straightforward. Thankfully, having performed tennis severely in his youth, Krueger has a aggressive spirit that also influences him to today.

So, forward of the extremely anticipated return of “Yellowjackets” (Showtime, March 26), we sat down with the star to seek out out extra.

“I began enjoying tennis once I was 4 years previous,” says Krueger. “I performed right through highschool and began to get very aggressive with it. The issue with me, rising up, is that I used to be the identical top as I’m now. I used to be 6’ 1” and weighed round 140 kilos so I used to be a twig. All the standard sports activities that you just consider; soccer, baseball, and even basketball, I used to be simply too small to play them and acquired pushed round rather a lot. Soccer and tennis have been the sports activities that I naturally veered in the direction of.”

Whereas scholarship gives for Steven Krueger to play tennis at school grew to become a actuality, a love of performing had developed and stolen his coronary heart, and so the will was not there to chase Division I play. Nonetheless, the aggressive spirit developed by means of tennis has been of nice worth to a profession in theatrics. Beginning with a want to fill out that six-feet-plus body. “I grew up in Florida with a bunch of men that have been hitting the gymnasium,” he says. “The summer season after my first yr of faculty, I felt bored with being this skinny, tall, gangly child, basically. So, that whole summer season I made a really concerted effort to placed on as a lot weight as I may.”

Steven Krueger Is Targeted on Being Display Prepared

As a tough gainer, Krueger says that he was consuming upward of 6,000 energy every day to gas weightlifting classes. “I completed my aim,” he shares. “I placed on about 30 kilos that one summer season. I stuffed out.” However even at this time, the actor says that he finds slicing weight to be simpler than gaining it. “I nonetheless assume, if the chance arose to do a superhero film, or one thing like that, I’d work with a coach and I’d have the ability to get there, and I’ve completed that a few instances in my profession.”

Whereas Krueger not trains his physique primarily to be match prepared, he’s at all times centered on being display prepared. “I believe actors exist in solely two states so far as physicality and health goes,” he shares. “I’m both in ‘character form’ or ‘Steven form.’ Yellowjackets is definitely a terrific instance as a result of earlier than we began Season 1, I used to be engaged on one other present on the time (“Roswell, New Mexico”). I play a former school soccer participant (in “Yellowjackets”), and that nineties look is perhaps somewhat bulkier, and so I made a concerted effort to placed on round 12 kilos or so earlier than we began filming as a result of I actually needed to have that look.”

In “Yellowjackets” the soccer group, workers and coaches are pressured to attempt to survive within the woods following a aircraft crash, and so Krueger understood that by beginning out the season carrying somewhat extra bulk, he would have the ability to shed pounds because the present progressed, serving to to current the phantasm that he was ravenous within the woods. Krueger says that when taking up new tasks, there’s typically little or no discover or time to arrange, so he likes to remain in form the entire time, in order that he might be able to shoot at a months’ discover.

For “Yellowjackets” Season 2, Krueger dropped round 12 kilos so as to preserve the viewers’s perception that he was going with out meals within the woods. “I do assume its an essential a part of being an actor,” says the star. “Physicality is so essential relating to embodying enjoying a personality, so I believe something that you are able to do to assist your self really feel just like the character, the higher your efficiency goes to be.”

Steven Krueger has Competitiveness in His DNA

There’s little doubt that Steven Krueger approaches his scenes with the identical gusto that he did with sports activities. “I believe any athlete, rising up, there’s that pure aggressive nature,” he shares. “I competed in a variety of stuff once I was youthful. I even competed in debate tournaments. I believe competitiveness has at all times been in my DNA. I believe that performing most likely has changed sports activities, in a sure approach. That is an extremely aggressive trade.”

In “Yellowjackets,” Krueger has extra to concern himself with than simply his weight. He additionally needed to face a brand new performing problem as a result of early within the present, his character loses a leg as a result of aforementioned aircraft crash. “They didn’t inform me that, till after we had filmed the pilot episode,” shares Krueger. “It truly occurs in episode two. I panicked somewhat bit, actually, as a result of I had by no means completed something like that and there’s two parts to it. There’s the bodily factor and it’s important to take care of the entire ache and tips on how to transfer and tips on how to operate and naturally [in real life] I nonetheless have the leg, so what do I’ve to do with it to make it appear like I don’t have a leg?” he notes. “Then after all, there’s the psychological parts as nicely, that include a traumatic harm like that, so I spent a number of months researching and speaking to folks and studying as a lot as I probably may.”

With unpredictable filming schedules, Krueger must be versatile about the place and when he trains. “In any given week, I could do yoga a couple of times per week, I could do some interval coaching just a few instances through the week, I could do a few biking lessons, go for a run, or I could get on a treadmill and set it to the very best incline. Consistently conserving the physique guessing is so good for it,” says the actor.

Along with his gymnasium work, the place Krueger additionally likes to undertake conventional workouts such because the bench press and squat, he’s additionally an enormous advocate of getting exterior. The busy actor finds that nature supplies him with the stability he must put the depth of working in Hollywood again into its correct context. He’s additionally developed a love of pickleball. “Now, honesty, I play much more pickleball  than I do tennis,” shares Krueger. “I nonetheless choose up the tennis racket every so often however I’m a lot extra into pickleball as a result of it’s simply simpler on the physique. It’s a smaller court docket, you don’t must run fairly as a lot. Pickleball is nice, you’ll be able to just about play with anyone.”