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Jack Champion stars as Spider in Avatar: The Way of Water, a human boy adopted by Jake (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña) after being orphaned in Pandora during the war. Now a teenager, he considers himself as part of the Na’vi, even though the rest of the Na’vi tribe don’t entirely accept him. The long-awaited sequel is James Cameron's first feature in 13 years, and the first of four planned installments in the Avatar film series. As Cameron told GQ, the movie is about family: “What do two characters who are warriors, who take chances and have no fear, do when they have children and they still have the epic struggle?”

Champion is among the new cast members joining the franchise, and his preparation for the role involved some intense training. Not only did he have to put in work at weightlifting, CrossFit,  and bow and arrow and other combat skills, but he also had to do intense freediving and scuba lessons to film stunts underwater. In the process, he says he went from someone who had no idea how to exercise to a ripped teenager who looks like he could actually survive in the Pandora jungle. GQ recently caught up with the young actor to talk about the demanding physical training required for the role, his diet during days of filming, working with underwater breath-holding specialists, and what’s playing on his Spotify Wrapped.

For Real-Life Diet, GQ talks to athletes, celebrities, and other high performers about their diet, exercise routines, and pursuit of wellness. Keep in mind that what works for them might not necessarily be healthy for you.

GQ: For Avatar: The Way of Water, James Cameron had the entire cast undergo a tremendous amount of training. What was that process like for you?

Jack Champion: I was a bit different than the other cast members because I was a human! So I had to look like I grew up in the Pandora jungle keeping up with the Na'vi kids. Not only did I had to learn all the bow, movement, and knife training, but they also sent me with a personal trainer—Josh Murillo, who I still work with today—who basically helped me look from a pudgy 13-year-old who didn't really know how to work out to someone who was more lean, ripped and good with movement.

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You mentioned bow, movement, and knife training—can you tell me a little bit more about the preparation you had to do for this role?

We started with basic movements. Before we did anything with heavy weights we just focused on technique. I had to basically learn how to properly do everything like squats and pull-ups. Then from there we slowly built up to weight lifting, cardio, longer cardio with short high-intensity intervals, and CrossFit.

How long was the training process?

For like two years I had to maintain a shirtless physique. We had to come up with a plan that would be attainable for two years. I did a lot of high-rep weight lifting, high-intensity interval training along with some boxing workouts and incline walks. It was cool because Avatar and Josh made me my own traveling gym trailer so that it was accessible throughout filming. When we rented a house in Wellington in New Zealand—where we filmed—we changed the garage into a gym and my trainer lived in the attached apartment so we could just bro out whenever.

What did your day-to-day eating routine look like during those days of training and filming?

It was just like protein, protein, protein. One gram of protein per pound of body weight, which is what I still do to this day. Instead of focusing on meals that tasted good or were easy to consume, I would just focus my entire day around foods that are high in protein and count my macros.

In the very beginning I only had salmon, until I got sick of it. During the live action filming I was eating a lot of Beyond Meat, salads, a lot of fruit, and tofu.

Do you take any supplemental protein?

Yeah, to this day I still do. My favorite protein shakes are these premade Premier Protein shakes, which are just 30g of protein. Pretty low in fat, just really good for you.

How many calories did you eat on a daily basis to reach your goal and maintain your weight?

It kept changing because I was growing up and going through puberty, but it was always around 2,200 calories.

The cast also did underwater physical training and trained with breath-holding specialists to film extended takes underwater. Was that difficult to achieve?

I did freediving training and scuba training for four years. They designed a real full face mask—because on Pandora the humans have to have a face mask to breathe in their oxygen from outside—that also worked as a scuba mask for us to be underwater for hours. I held my breath for up to five minutes and 33 seconds at one point.

It's all about being zen and just being really relaxed so you don't use up too much oxygen. Sometimes when I was in the scuba mask I'd be 30 feet down underwater basically for hours at a time. We did breath ups to get rid of a lot of the carbon dioxide in our bloodstream, that could take up to five minutes, and then you have to do a really deep inhalation to get a higher oxygen percentage.

Did any of the cast members inspire your fitness journey in any way?

Stephen Lang [who plays the villainous Colonel Quaritch] was a beast in the gym. He was there as many times as I was, sometimes even earlier in the morning. Always just being a complete beast.

Out of all the different training you did to prepare for the role, which did you enjoy the most?

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Definitely bodybuilding. Cardio is hard and it can take a long time—and even when it's short and intense it's just never fun. But bodybuilding, you can always just hang out with your bro, lift weights and have a good time. I was lucky enough to work out with Arnold Schwarzenegger a few times. James Cameron and Arnold are like best friends and when Arnold visited I was like ‘Hey, can I work out with you?’ And he was like ‘Yeah, sure. I'll be there at Gold’s Gym, seven o'clock tomorrow.’ I was like ‘Oh my God.’ It was awesome, like 13 year old me and my trainer Josh, we went to Gold’s Gym the next day and Arnold just walked us through his daily workout and it was so, so cool.

What do you do to stay in shape during your off days of not filming?

I'm still training with Josh, we work out like four times a week. We do HIIT and CrossFit workouts, still bodybuilding as well. As far as my diet goes I still eat generally healthy. I may not be hitting the exact amount of protein every day, diet for me is still the hardest part because like any teenager, I prefer snack foods to real food. I'm lucky that I'm pretty young and I can still get away with a bit more cheating than my trainer.

What would you say is your favorite cheat meal?

Oh, that's good. I think Ben & Jerry's ice cream. It's just so good. The Tonight Dough or even the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough. So good.

Do you typically train with just your thoughts or do you prefer to train with music?

Oh, definitely music.

What's on your Spotify Wrapped?

Definitely a lot of Drake's older stuff. A lot of Meek Mill, you can never go wrong with Meek Mill. Just like a lot of intense angry hip-hop.

This interview has been edited and condensed.

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