Simon Pegg has responded to the 'weird' reaction to that photo of him with a 6-pack

The 'Shaun of the Dead' actor got ripped for a movie role

A few months ago, actor Simon Pegg almost broke the internet when his personal trainer shared a photo of him looking insanely ripped.

Pegg's 6-month transformation was for a role in forthcoming film 'Inheritance', which required him to have a 'very specific body shape and look'.

The resulting photo caused quite a stir:

Now, Pegg - who is 49, by the way - has spoken about how he achieved the look, losing 10kg and dropping 4% body fat in the process. Apparently, his 'Mission: Impossible' co-star Tom Cruise calls him 'Eight-Pack Peggles'.

"The response from that picture was so weird," he told GQ. 'Some people said, “You look ill,” which is what my wife thought. Others were saying, “Well done.” And the thing is, it wasn’t meant to be an aspirational thing. It was a snapshot that my trainer took and I really didn’t expect the furore that followed.

"All I can think of is that people still think of me as that schlubby guy from Shaun Of The Dead."

He added that diet had played a huge role in achieving the look, which entailed training for six days a week.

"So Nick and I developed this plan to give me that body shape and it was a lot of work. I trained for three months with only one day off a week. Obviously nutrition was a big part of that, too. Nick always says you can’t outrun a bad diet and that is completely true. No matter how many sit-ups you do, you’ll never get a six-pack if you don’t manage your macro-nutrients properly."

Thriller 'Inheritance' began shooting earlier this year and will see Pegg lead a cast that includes Lily Collins.