EXCLUSIVE: 'Hollywood Crippled Me!' — Hobbled Rupert Everett Torches Tinseltown for Destroying His Body
Rupert Everett has claimed Hollywood crippled him, leaving lasting physical damage to his body.
July 2 2026, Published 6:30 a.m. ET
Rupert Everett confessed he "crippled" himself trying to copycat action heroes like Tom Cruise early in his Hollywood career, Breaking Celebrity News can reveal.
The 67-year-old Brit desperately wanted a sculpted physique, but said he never warmed up with "boring" exercises before lifting weights and he's paying the price.
'I Ruined Myself'
Rupert Everett said years of weightlifting without proper stretching left him with lasting musculoskeletal problems.
"I ruined myself. Now I'm almost crippled as a result," admits Everett, best known for playing Julia Roberts' gay confidant in the 1997 comedy blockbuster My Best Friend's Wedding.
"I could never be bothered to do all those things, like stretching, which were necessary for lifting weights, because your tendons get tighter and tighter.
"So boring. I didn't do any of that. So now my demise will be musculoskeletal, I think."
Before he got into weightlifting, Everett reveals he took the easy way out to look buff – and ordered up a specially made bodysuit.
"The suit had 'a false bottom, false calves, false shoulders, false everything,'" he explained.
He wore the custom contraption under his clothes – even while he was working.
Secret Bodysuit Fooled Hollywood
Before pursuing a muscular physique, Everett used a custom bodysuit with artificial features to appear more buff.
Amazingly, directors never realized Everett used the bodysuit to fake a fit physique.
"I'd go into fittings for the costumes with all my things on," he confessed.
Looking back, Everett regrets not focusing on stage work rather than box-office blockbusters.
Star Regrets Chasing Fame
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Looking back on his career, Everett said he tried to model himself after Tom Cruise instead of focusing on stage work.
"I should probably have concentrated harder on the stage," he admitted.
"I was always trying to turn myself into the conventional star I wanted to be when I was a kid. I wanted to be Tom Cruise! But I was a 6-foot-5 beanpole looking like a cross between Snow White and Anne Frank.
"So there was no way I was going to be able to compress myself into that role.
"It's not that I was doing nothing, but I was doing everything in the wrong direction."
These days, Everett – who voiced Prince Charming in Shrek 2 and Shrek the Third – has put the glitz and glam of Tinseltown behind him, saying he "never looks in the mirror if I can help it."
