Thanks to director Zack Snyder’s stunning visuals and lead actor Gerard Butler’s chiseled looks, the 2007 release of “300” became one of the surprise hit movies of the year.

Gerard Butler in “300.” Warner Bros.

But looking back on it now, Butler says it took a toll on him.

“In some ways I was ruining my body, but I was looking amazing doing it,” Butler recently told The Hollywood Reporter when looking back on the shape he had to get into to pay the lead role of Leonidas, the King of Sparta.

He told the trade that he worked out six hours a day to prepare for the ad-ripped role.

That included two hours of CrossFit training, two hours of bodybuilding, and two hours of fight training.

(L-R) Zack Snyder and Gerard Butler on the set of “300.”  Warner Bros.
Interest in “300” has risen recently thanks to the release of Snyder’s 4-hour epic cut of “Justice League” on HBO Max. Long before Snyder began making DC Comics movies for Warner Bros., he was trying to convince the studio to make a stylish swords and sandals epic based on the 1998 Frank Miller graphic novel series.

The movie would become a surprise hit for the studio, taking in over $456 million at the worldwide box office, but Butler admits while making the movie he wasn’t sure it would be any good.

“There were times you would walk around in your red cape and little leather underpants and someone would point at nothing and say, ‘Look! A burning village!'” recalled Butler working on the set that was made up of green screen that would turn into epic battle scenes by CGI animators in post-production.

“And I remember going, ‘Oh my God. This movie’s going to suck,'” he said.

The movie was a success, though, boasting an audience score of 89% on Rotten Tomatoes, and made Butler an international star.