LaMonica Garrett has often relied on physical appearance to add authenticity to her roles. Like Secret Service agent Mike Ritter, in Designated Survivor, received the Californian chiselling secret service training to act like a man whose life was dedicated to protecting the POTUS. In the DC universe, Garrett is also loved for his moving performance of “The Monitor” and “Anti-Monitor,” a concert that requires him to use heavy and tight suits for long and demanding sessions.
Now, however, Garrett has risen to the challenge of his career playing Thomas, in the groundbreaking 1883 at Paramount+. speaking exclusively with men and women, The 46-year-old actor reflects on his fitness journey so far and looks ahead to crushing it for years to come.
“It was a lot easier to stay in shape back then, I know that,” jokes Garrett, when reminded. his last muscle and fitness characteristic. “Maybe it’s the years or the opportunities, but I had to do less, now I have to do a little more. But, I guess, Father Time is undefeated, so that’s what it is.”
LaMonica Garrett still keeps a firm grip on her fitness
“I feel the older I wear, if I let him go now, I’m not sure if he’ll come back,” says the actor. “Or, the over discipline [that I would need] to get it back. And with my job situation where my environment changes all the time, my agent might say, ‘Hey, in two months you’ll have this job, so get ready.’ I could be on a plane to South Africa tomorrow, so I’d better be ready so I don’t have to be ready.”
For Garrett, staying ready and keeping those ripped abs means putting in hours at the gym. “I do maybe four days a week,” she says. “It will be different every day. If I’m doing legs, I’ll do core. If I’m doing it back, I’ll work my core in another way. If I’m doing chest, I’ll do core in another way, so something with core every day and diet. You know, abs, or most of it is nutrition in the kitchen, so I just have to modify the way I eat and that helps.”
fasting to focus
“I won’t eat in the morning,” says the actor. “It’s harder when I’m working, when I’m on set for 12 hours, because you don’t know when you’re going to eat again. when we were filming 1883, we would eat breakfast, then we would go eight hours without eating. So if he’s not early he won’t but if I’m not working my first meal is at 12pm (usually after I complete a training session) and I’ll have a big meal then a light meal for dinner. And I don’t eat after 8 pm again. I try to end my day with a grapefruit.” Grapefruits are low in calories and rich in nutrients like potassium, folic acid, and magnesium. Plus, they contain a lot of fiber, making them a great option for anyone who wants manage your calorie intake while still fueling the body with necessary vitamins and minerals.
“When you tell yourself you’re not going to eat after a certain time, you don’t find yourself just walking into the kitchen to see what’s around,” says Garrett. “The energy level throughout the day is incredible, but towards the end of the night, you get weak, because you’ve had a long day of work and exercise, you’re just tired, so I go to bed. around 10 to 10:30 pm these days, that’s like two and a half hours after my last meal. I wake up and maybe have a coffee just to start the day, energy-wise, before I work out. But yeah, the energy is great throughout the day and the fog in the brain is gone because there’s a focus there.”
stay mobile
“We were moving,” Garrett shares, speaking of his experience trying to stay in shape while performing 1883, a gritty drama set in the 19th century based on the lives of those who lived during America’s westward expansion. 95 percent of the project was filmed outdoors.
“Every two weeks we’d be on a different ranch, in a different part of Texas, or we’d be in Montana,” says Garrett. “I don’t care too much what my hotel room looks like, as long as there’s a good gym close by. That said, towards the end of the shoot, Tim McGraw has his gym where I was working out. This big trailer with a 70-inch TV, a sauna, a cold plunge, all this great equipment, so if I had to be at work at 6 am, I was at the gym at 4:30 am AND Tim. .. He is an exercise fanatic. When I got there at 4:30 am, he was already sweating from being there at 3:30,” laughs Garrett.
Get creative for maintenance
As well as co-star Tim McGraw’s mobile gym mecca, the show’s creator, Taylor Sheridan, also put a gym on set, but there were times when LaMonica Garrett had to get creative to fit her workouts. The filming process for 1883 took six months, with six shooting days per week. Due to the wild and woolly conditions of the great outdoors, it was not always possible to hit the gym between takes. “Some places didn’t have any gyms and I would just go up on the roof,” says Garrett. “With my [resistance] ab bands and wheel, and a jump rope, and I was training just for maintenance.”
LaMonica Garrett pushes her fitness limits
Playing the role of Thomas in 1883 it’s Garrett’s proudest moment in acting to date, but it was also his most challenging offering. Preparing for the project required the actor to participate in a “cowboy camp” that included car training and gun practice. He also received riding lessons, which required him to work with horses for 6 hours straight. “If you’re nervous or restless, the horse notices,” shares Garrett. “I was working my core, my legs and muscles I didn’t even know I had!” In addition to all that, the actor was also instructed in the art of tying up cattle. The end result is an authentic portrayal of the skills required to survive in such unforgiving times, but more importantly, this story seeks to set the record straight about the role Black people played during this important moment in history.
“It’s diversity, but a lot of it is history, it tells the real story,” says Garrett, who will next star opposite Chris Pratt on Amazon Prime Video. terminal list in a show he required him to undertake intense navy seals training. “One in four cowboys was black, and you wouldn’t know that from the portrayal of previous television westerns. You see, in some of the comment sections on social media, they’re like, ‘I love the show and everything, but I don’t know if I’m believing there was a black cowboy back then. I’m like, ‘That’s what it was!’ There are real historical figures, black cowboys who are very well known architects of this country, who helped build this country and how the west was formed. Now I hear that there are young black kids who look up to Thomas and say, ‘Wow, I want to go horseback riding.’ We just need more of that.”
