Christopher Judge Physically Prepared to Play Kratos in Live-Action God of War Series, but Backed Down for This Reason
Christopher Judge revealed that he actually started physically preparing to play Kratos in Prime Video’s live-action God of War series before he made himself back down.
Speaking on a panel at Fan Expo Canada, Judge said he began working out to get in Spartan shape and started memorizing his lines, admitting that he’d been in talks to take the role in the project’s early days.
"We had talked, and I thought, 'God, what a great legacy to leave for my grandson.' So I started working out. I got bigger,” he began.
“Then, just the reality of it... because I did read! I did read for it. It was so hard for me to memorize my lines, which I never had a problem with. And that was my mind and body starting to tell me, 'You don't want to do this.' I was one of the leads of Stargate at 33 to 44, and then stopped. Now, at 62, to be the lead, I just have no desire to live that way again."
As noted by Collider, Judge previously mentioned the physical toll that such a part would have taken on him. “I didn't want to do it," he said. “I didn't want to, at 62 years old, work 16-to-18-hour days. I didn't want to be dieting constantly; I didn't want to be working out constantly."
That being said, Judge is more than happy for Dave Bautista to take the part, though he is concerned about the pro wrestler-turned-actor getting shredded again after losing so much weight in recent years. He also shared his reaction to Ryan Hurst initially getting cast for the role, saying he felt the actor was a perfect choice due to his history with the God of War games.
“With Ryan, I thought that was absolutely the right choice. He's played all the games. He's a gamer and new father; like, who better? Then when he got hurt, it was like, are they going to take time to read with and call people back? So when I heard the name of Bautista, I thought, 'Didn't he just lose like 100 pounds?' So I hope he's going to be great. I think he's going to be great. I just hope it doesn't cause any health issues to put back on all that weight,” he said.
Prime Video’s God of War series suffered a major setback in July when Hurst tore his bicep filming a stunt for the show. Rather than wait out his lengthy recovery, Amazon decided to recast the role to Dave Bautista in one of the best castings we’ve ever seen for a game adaptation.
While fans balked at the first look we got at the show back in February, responses are looking more positive now that this news has been revealed, alongside a newer photo that Hurst shared of himself in full Kratos makeup that looked far better than the initial poster.
Judge previously criticized Prime Video's God of War series back in August, slamming showrunners for not involving the writers of the 2018 game it's based on (though, in this panel, he clarified that he wants "anything God of War to be great").
Virginia (she/her) is IGN’s News Editor. With ten years of experience reporting on games and entertainment, she’s got a storied background in the fighting game community, influencer news, and viral online trends. Find her on Twitter at @TheeMissGlaze.