Sacha Baron Cohen's dramatic change after splitting from Isla Fisher

A New Look for Sacha Baron Cohen

Sacha Baron Cohen is undergoing a complete transformation, and he wants the world to see every muscle, every vein, and every clever caption that comes with it. The 53-year-old actor, best known for his iconic portrayal of Borat in the infamous mankini scene, has taken a dramatic turn from slapstick to serious fitness in a recent cover shoot for Men’s Fitness UK. The images were shared on Instagram on Wednesday, offering a sneak peek at the August issue.

In the photos, Sacha appears under the bright lights of a gym, his muscles pumped and oiled as he lifts weights, performs pull-ups, and strikes poses that look more like those of a Marvel superhero than a mockumentary character. This transformation is perfectly timed with his debut as Mephisto, the devilish new supervillain in Marvel’s Disney+ series Ironheart.

Men’s Fitness teased "the king of comedy" inside, promising an interview that reveals how a comic mastermind became a comic book menace. Sacha didn’t wait for the magazine to hit the shelves to start the jokes. On his Instagram Stories, he posted the cover and wrote, “This is not AI, I really am egotistical enough to do this.” In a follow-up slide, he added, “Some celebs use Ozempic, some use private chefs, others use personal trainers. I did all three.” A third joke, as dry as a protein bar, read: “hard launching [my] mid-life crisis,” before introducing “my new character: Middle aged man who replaced beer with protein shakes.”

The humor is classic Sacha, but there's sincerity hidden between the punchlines. According to a preview obtained by Deadline, he confesses in the cover story that he started this journey “having the core strength of an arthritic jellyfish.” Translation: even a guy who has dangled from the ceiling as Brüno and wrestled as Ali G was not exactly ready for superhero combat.

So he called a friend. In this case, Oscar winner Matthew McConaughey, who knows his way around a set and a sweat session, pointed him to trainer Alfonso "The Angry Trainer" Moretti. Alfonso recalls their first Zoom call like a casting call for a rebooted Mr. Bean. “He looked like a ruler, straight up and down,” the trainer told the outlet, after asking Sacha to strip down to his underwear for an honest baseline.

That first impression might have been blunt, but Alfonso says he could see “an athlete in hiding.” His mission was to coax that hidden athlete to the surface with a punishingly simple formula: a low sugar, high fiber diet and a relentless routine that demanded 100 push-ups every day. On Instagram, Sacha gave credit right back: he thanked Alfonso for “doing the unthinkable and putting up with [him] for 25 mins a day.”

The results speak for themselves. In the shoot, Sacha’s torso looks Photoshopped, which is why he preemptively joked about AI. There is a sculpted chest, etched abs, and the kind of definition that screams months of discipline rather than a quick celebrity detox. The gym backdrop is spartan, all iron and grit, which makes the transformation pop even more.

Timing is everything in show business, and Sacha’s physical reveal arrives just weeks after a very personal headline. In June, he finalized his divorce from Isla Fisher after nearly 14 years of marriage and more than two decades together. The former couple released a joint statement last month that read: “We are proud of all we’ve achieved together and, continuing our great respect for each other, we remain friends and committed to co-parenting our wonderful children.”