Charlie Weber’s career has taken him from posing nude while riding an elephant to being a murder suspect who, from the looks of it, shaves his chest but not his face. While his acting roles were diverse before becoming a series regular during the past three seasons of ABC’s drama How to Get Away with Murder, one thing has remained constant throughout his career: the gym.
“Weight training has always been part of my life,” says Weber, who grew up playing football and running track.
The goal for the 5’11”, 170-pounder is to maintain “lean symmetry” via a no-frills diet and training consistently.
“Headphones in, one lift to the next, eight to 12 reps, 30 seconds between sets. I don’t talk to people. That’s how I do it. I like to do very focused, isolated, conscious lifting. I don’t want my form to break down,” he reveals.
Weber’s workouts last about an hour or an hour and 20 minutes if he throws in cardio. He takes weekends off, but if he’s shooting late, he’ll make up those missed days on Saturday and Sunday. Cardio gained importance with the onset of his late 30s.
“I didn’t have to do cardio when I was in my 20s. Unfortunately, I’m getting to an age when it’s a necessity,” says the 38-year-old. “I have a good diet, and I’m very lucky genetically, but I’ve really had to bring cardio into the picture. I run on a treadmill a little, but I’m more of a StairClimber, inclined-walking kind of guy. I do 40 flights of stairs—it’s a serious workout— and I’ll get out to the beach and do some burst training now and then.” (Burst training is a form of HIIT that involves doing all-out exercise for 30 to 60 seconds, followed by 30 to 60 seconds of low intensity.)
Weber’s diet is simple, with the occasional indulgence. “I live on proteins and greens, but every so often you’ve got to treat yourself. I don’t necessarily have cheat days, [but] if I’m gonna do it, I’m going to have an In-and-Out burger, a pizza, [or] I’m going to an Italian restaurant to get some house-made tagliatelle.”
Weber certainly went for it trying to become an actor, paying his dues in Hollywood and turning up on some of the most popular shows of the last quarter century: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Veronica Mars, 90210 (the new one), The Drew Carey Show, House, and CSI: Miami. Before his breakthrough on Buffy, Weber worked as a model. Most memorably, he posed naked on an elephant for an Abercrombie & Fitch ad campaign. And when he first read for his Murder character, Frank Delfino, he knew he had met his match.
“Frank is a tragic character who’s a victim of circumstances that he’s created for himself,” the actor says. “He’s definitely messed up.
And with regards to this season’s story line in which—spoiler alert!— Delfino is the killer, Weber adds: “He has remorse and guilt about the things he’s done. He’s far from a mindless killer.”
Of course, that raises the question: Could Charlie Weber get away with murder?
“Only on television,” Weber says with a laugh. “They’d knock on my door five minutes later. I couldn’t even get out of a speeding ticket.”
Tune In:How to Get Away with Murder airs Thursdays on ABC, 10 p.m. ET
