CELLULOID STEROID

The (not so) Secret Role of Performance-enhancing Drugs in the Motion Picture Industry

Some readers of this blog may wonder: „What kind of a stoopid topic is THAT?“ Well, folks... it’s my blog, and I write about whatever I wanna write about. But seriously, if I had a penny for every time I got drawn into a debate on this particular subject, I’d be a friggin‘ millionaire. If you’re not into big muscles (or you don’t want to admit you are) you might wanna skip this one. This blog entry contains so much testosterone that reading it may give you heavy acne, male pattern baldness and significantly increased libido.

Disclaimer:

Stefan Morawietz and AnD in no way condone or encourage the use of anabolic/androgenic steroids. This article is intended for educational and entertainment purposes only and should not be used as a reference guide. Steroids are legally available only by prescription.

So, now we’ve got this all cleared up, here’s my little piece of investigative journalism...

 

The State of Affairs

Here we are now. The beefed-up-and-ripped-to-shreds look has become the norm in the film & entertainment industry (especially in the action & martial arts genre). Billy Blanks, Scott Adkins, Michael Jai White, Silvio Simac… these are the names that leap to mind when talking about the most admired physiques of today’s non-Asian action actors & martial arts performers. Arnold, Sly & Van Damme paved the way… and here we are. Bigger, stronger, faster.

Video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8nOKJTL6Tg

Whenever an actor suddenly gains a considerable amount of muscle mass in a short time while whipping himself into shape for an action role, usually a good helping of steroids (and sometimes Growth Hormone, Clenbuterol, etc.) are involved. None of the stars will admit it, of course… might taint their glamorous image a little and - even more unpleasant - subject them to criminal prosecution.

The funny thing is that a lot of people (yes, even people in the business who ought to know better) prefer to stay in their little make-believe worlds and react shocked & indignantly when performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) are mentioned in connection with their favorite screen idols.

The truth is, and one well-known celebrity personal trainer put it quite nicely: “... if a person’s physique looks too good to be true, it probably is.”

Thanks to the Bush administration and their politically motivated PED witch hunt, most people out there haven’t got a clue how steroids work & what they actually are. I have seldom been confronted with such an amount of ignorance & major baloney as when talking to people about this particular matter.

It’s amusing, in a way.

Talking about truths, let’s face the realities of the movie industry for a minute here. More than once I have been asked quite bluntly by casting agents or producers if I’d be willing to go on steroids for a fighting part in a movie. I lost out on roles because I wasn’t brawny enough at the time or the shooting date was too close to bulk up properly. No business like show business! You don’t like it? You go and become a tax accountant.

And let’s be honest, who wants to see Jet Li beat up some dude who’s smaller & skinnier  than himself?

Whether this muscle craze in show biz is something to be welcomed or not is not the subject of this piece of writing. But since it’s here, I believe that rather than sermonizing or demonizing, more dispassionate, factual information is urgently needed. As Strength & Conditioning Coach Sal Marinello states in The Healthy Skeptic :

“... these substances are out there and (...) people are using them, and will not only continue to use them but will forever seek out new and better substances to use. (...) You can be against the use of all forms of PEDs, but this doesn't mean you can ignore the fact that these substances are being used...”

There you have it.

REALITY CHECK

A Brief History of Steroid Usage in the Movies

I will probably get accused of divulging well-kept professional secrets when I start talking freely & truthfully about the history of steroids from Hollywood to Bollywood (but then again, who reads this blog, anyway?). It’s not my intention to bad-mouth anyone or to maliciously rain on your parade here. This would mean that I considered steroid usage of action stars & entertainers morally reprehensible... which I don’t. But I trust you’ve guessed this much by now.

Here’s some food for thought:

The 50s & 60s: From Muscle Beach to the Silver Screen

The first known uses of water-dissolved synthetic testosterone in sports began in the late 1940's, after the military had employed it extensively to boost the recovery of undernourished prisoners of war & concentration camp victims. Some of the first juicers were Russian weightlifters & American bodybuilders.

“Dianabol” – “Doc Ziegler’s mysterious pink pills” came on the market in the mid-50s. About a decade later, their combination with the injectable “Deca-Durabolin” took bodybuilding to the next level, although dosages were still minimal by today’s standards.

Bodybuilders started appearing in the flickers. Thank God they had CinemaScope back then.

STEVE REEVESMr. America, Mr. Universe, and the original “Hercules” ... claimed that there weren’t any steroids around when he was competing. A prime example of memory suppression. They were around... and they were legal. Granted, they were a well-kept secret among athletes and not everybody knew about them or had access to them... but the guys that did stood out like dog balls.

REG PARK Former runner-up to Steve-ah Reeve-ah at the Mr. Universe. The beefy Brit cashed in on the Italian sword-and-sandal craze as “Hercules” & “Maciste” . The Times called him “...muscle hero who shunned steroids...” and some other genius labeled him “... one of the last natural champions of the pre-steroid age...” 

Duh...! Saps.

The 70s: Kung Fu Fighting & Pumping Iron

In 1976, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) officially banned steroids. Nonetheless, bodybuilders, martial artists & athletes of almost every other sport kept using new drugs like “Primobolan” & “Winstrol” in place of (or in addition to) the established classics “Deca” & “Dianabol” ...

---

“Anavar”, a mild oral, was introduced in the mid-60s and later became very popular with health-conscious bodybuilders and an all-time favorite with boxers & kick-boxers competing in weight classes.

And yet, big muscles were not en vogue until a documentary featuring a gargantuan dude from Austria changed all that.

**“Pumping up, pumping iron;

pumping up, it really feels like flying;

coming up just like a lion;

pumping up, pumping iron, work it up now, pump it up nowwwww...”**

Those were the days, my funky soul brothah...

BRUCE LEE The one and only. The God. The man. Most chopsocky buffs & martial arts fans still believe that their idol was some sort of an infallible, morally superior, superhuman kungfu monk. Nothing I can say here will ever change this. But it is pretty well-known today that – apart from being a confirmed pot head – Bruce experimented with various steroids in his never-ending quest for strength & power.

BOLO YEUNG The big Chinese dude from “Enter the Dragon” & “Bloodsport” .

---

200 Lbs at 5’ 7”. Former Mr. Hong Kong. Played the muscle in more then 100 chopsockies. Still going strong. Claims to be a life-time natural. HAHAHA! Chinese! Great sense of humor.

A natural, if there ever was one...

LOU FERRIGNOThe Hulk. Huge. Green. ‘Nuff  said.

 

The 80s: Barbarians in Aerobicland

Regardless of the Olympic ban, steroids weren’t tested in the NFL until the late 80s. No more gear over the counter, but over the border – from Mexico. Arrrriba! More and more exotic Testosterone derivatives emerged & disappeared again, but the hottest secret weapon  - Human Growth Hormone - was here to stay. Brawn was hip all of a sudden. Before they knew it, beefcakes that had been ridiculed before & dismissed as freaky exponents of some gay subculture became role models for the new fitness era.

ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER You can even read at Wikipedia that The Governator has admitted to using performance-enhancing substances back in the day. Who ever woulda thought it? Watch him in “Conan the Barbarian” , filmed shortly after the notorious 1980 Mr. Olympia. The Austrian Oak has juiced up for movie projects ever since.

Which one do you prefer?

SYLVESTER STALLONE Huhm, Sly got busted by Aussie customs not too long ago and he reluctantly acknowledged to using prescribed Growth Hormone on a regular basis for rejuvenation purposes (they found Testosterone vials on him too, by the way).

Compare his physique in the first “Rocky” to that in “Cliffhanger” . Or simply the difference between “Rambo I” and “Rambo II” . And just look at him in "Rocky Balboa" ...  that dude is 60 years old, dammit!

     

Ramky in top shape

By the way, there’s still people who insist that the G doesn’t actually work.

DOLPH LUNDGREN The Swede has been called a fool by journalists for openly admitting his use of anabolic steroids to improve his physique for his roles in “Rocky IV” and “Showdown in Little Tokyo”.  This is what you get for being honest.

Whether he was criticized in this fashion for  using steroids or for admitting to using steroids remains unclear.

JEAN-CLAUDE VAN DAMMEI keep running into dyed-in-the-wool van Damme fans who firmly believe that the Muscles from Brussels has never touched PEDs. There are people who believe that the British Royal family are a bunch of extraterrestrial, blood-drinking, shape-shifting reptilians and that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction.

MILES O’KEEFFE Tarzan on steroids. A pity that the gear doesn’t enhance acting skills, too.

HULK HOGAN In the infamous 1994 WWF steroid scandal, wrestling icon Hulk Hogan testified in court, stating that he and most of his peers had been taking steroids throughout the 80s. What a shock! Well, as a consequence, the WWF became the WWE and introduced doping tests for pro wrestlers.

Gimme a break, will ya?

CARL WEATHERS Yeah, that’s Apollo Creed. Roids were unlikely to be a novelty for the former American & Canadian league football player.

 

The 90s: The Steroid Era

The age of chemical wizardry. The Anabolic Steroids Control Act of 1990 made anabolic steroids a Schedule III controlled substance in the U.S. Wow... priorities!

Veterinary steroids like “Equipoise”and several new versions of Trenbolone gain in popularity... cheap Growth Hormone from China... lipid Testosterone revival... underground labs... nightmarish amounts of new drugs & substances like “Clenbuterol” , “Nubain” , all sorts of so-called estrogen blockers, HCG, diuretics, insulin, and “...a vast number of others I haven't taken the time to learn how to pronounce, let alone spell.” (Mike Mentzer; Mr. America &  Mr. Universe)

Mass rules. X-treme is chic. Dorian Yates is The Man. Welcome to the freak show.

VIN DIESEL xXx . Ex-bouncer & confirmed gym rat. New male role model for the 90s. Or so they say.

MICHAEL CLARK DUNCANEx-bodyguard for Will Smith & LL Cool J. Put on 40 Lbs for “Daredevil” .

MICHAEL JAI WHITEThat’s the dude who played Mike Tyson and “Spawn” . Hell, yeah!

EDWARD NORTON Quite obviously upped the T for “American History X” . Got him an Oscar nomination.

DWAYNE “THE ROCK” JOHNSON Admitted to doing it when he was young & foolish. Had some bad gyno removed (yup, that’s them ugly bitch tits), as well. Calls for “zero tolerance” now. This much hypocrisy makes me wanna puke!

... hope for the next generation...

Check out this forum post:

“The Rock's a good example of someone who can reach the top and not be on roids. Seriously, he said he used roids during his freshman year at college, but never in the WWF; and he was one of the greatest of all time. So, if he can do it then there's hope for the next generation.”

No comment.

CHRISTIAN BALE Quit speculating, for Chrissakes! You don’t gain 100 Lbs (!) of lean muscle in 5 months naturally, dude. You just don’t. Even when you’re a super-gifted genetic freak, you don’t. Not even when you’re friggin’ Batman.

“How did you get that fab physique in American Psycho , Chris?” , the reporter asked during an interview for Cosmopolitan.

“Steroids”, movie star Christian Bale replied, laughing.

What an appealing dry sense of humor, everybody thought.

Chris before & after

MARK WAHLBERG Marky Mark. Ex-underwear model. Ex- New Kids On The Block. Ex-convict. Allegedly discovered the juice while doing time at Deer Island penitentiary. Turned from a scrawny kid into a teenage hunk as a result.

2000 and beyond:

Baseball banned steroids in 2002. Three years later, Baseball slugger Jose Canseco publishes his tell-all book “Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant Roids, Smash Hits & How Baseball Got Big” .A new substance hits the scene... sounding the bell for the next generation of PEDs: IGF-1 (Insulin-like Growth Factor-1) is the new Holy Grail for muscleheads world-wide.

In 2008, the FBI raided pharmacies in Florida & Alabama, leading to the so-called “Hollywood Steroid Scandal” . "Stars were shipped prescribed human growth hormone or steroids -- sometimes under fictitious names -- at hotels, productions studios, private residences, an upscale Manhattan fitness club and through the Long Island office of a chiropractor affiliated with the celebrities."

Names named include 50 Cent, Mary J. Blige, Timbaland, Wyclef Jean, Tyler Perry, Evander Holyfield, and  – again -  Sylvester Stallone.

Prescribed? What’s the big deal, then?

GERARD BUTLER “300” . Did you watch that one? And do you really believe you can change your physique this dramatically in a matter of weeks by doing push ups & jumping through rows of old tires? C’mon!

Tonight we're going to dine in hell!

50 CENT Even a blind man can see from a ten-mile distance on a foggy day that the homie didn’t “just say no”.

LL COOL JSame, same.

TOBY MCGUIRE The studio quite obviously hopped him up on steroids for “Spiderman” . The ektomorph gained 30 Lbs of lean muscle in 3 months... that’s a proper mass cycle.

MICKEY ROURKE Used to work out at Gold’s Gym in Hollywood. Good actor. Bad boxer. Admitted freely to taking steroids in his “bad days”. Apparently, these days aren’t quite over yet. Look at him in “Sin City” .

WILL SMITHPut on 30 Lbs for “Ali” . Lost all of it, afterwards. Gained it back for “I, Robot” . No sweat.

SCOTT ADKINSEnglishman with Taekwondo background. Hit it up heavy for his role in “Undisputed II: Last Man Standing” in order not to look small next to co-star Michael Jai White.

Mission accomplished!

There’s lotsa more juicers haunting the action movie genre (usually playing The Big Bad Ass Guy)... Nathan Jones, Conan Stevens, Derek Boyer... they’re easy to spot if you keep your eyes open.

 

The Bottom Line

While some of these celebrities probably aren’t the best examples for long-term, continuous steroid use the way it’s done by bodybuilders or pro wrestlers, they show how wide-spread & quite normal this practice actually is and always has been in the action film community.

Many top-billing actors with that ripped, muscular Men’s Health look might manage with their good genetics, a nutritionist and a personal trainer... and maybe a few “Winstrol” or “Anavar” tablets here and there. But pro wrestlers, MMA pro athletes, action actors or full-time stunt fighters play in a different league, altogether.

A final word to those who argue that actors, athletes, and entertainers are role models and must therefore live (or pretend to live) like Augustinian Hermits. Well, this line of argument coming from politicians has a bit of a hollow ring to it, doesn’t it?

Let’s make no mistake about it, martial artists & action performers working in the flickers are all top-notch pros with superior athletic skills they have gained after long & hard years of bleeding & sweating. Steroids can just give them an edge on the big screen, in terms of physical appearance & recovery ability. They’re definitely not the key to their success.

I rest my case.