'I could hardly believe it was me': Matthew Fox was unable to recognise himself onscreen after losing 44lbs for film role

Matthew Fox provided some serious eye-candy for the female fans of Lost, when he starred as Jack Shephard.

Now, the heartthrob is going to set pulses racing once again with his new look body after losing an incredible 44lbs  (20kg).

Matthew, 46, put himself through an intense workout to lose weight in order to fully embody his role as a serial killer in upcoming thriller Alex Cross, and could barely recognise himself when he saw the finished product.

Witness the fitness: Matthew Fox lost an incredible 20kg for his new movie Alex Cross, in which he plays a serial killer

In the Men’s Health December issue, Fox shares the secrets of his savage but safe regime and his motivation for pushing himself to the limit.

He told the magazine: 'When I read the part, it felt immediately that my character [serial killer Picasso] is burning energy on almost a hyper level.

'Without needing to spend any time in the gym he would just look like that.

Lights, camera, action: The former Lost actor now looks incredibly lean and toned thanks to a very taxing diet

Slim star: The full interview is December's Men's Health

'Almost disturbingly vascular and tendony, and f*****g just... weird. That would come from an enormous amount of energy burning inside this guy.'

Matthew was not exactly in bad shape before the film, but he still shed nearly a fifth of his body weight for the role.

He said: 'I didn’t want to lose weight unhealthily, but I didn’t know how to do it any other way.

'I read somewhere that when Christian Bale was preparing for The Machinist he ate nothing but an apple a day for months. Just one apple. That can’t be good for you.'
To lose the 20kg of body fat, his diet consisted mainly of chicken breast, steamed broccoli and protein shakes made with water.

Although Matthew enjoyed watching himself on screen with his amazing new torso ripped and toned, he didn't like the tough exercise program.

He told the magazine: 'If I’m honest, sometimes I f*****g hated it. I guess if you removed the ‘result’ part of it then I can’t say I enjoyed it.

'But I did enjoy the results, and it made the whole thing worthwhile. It’s an empowering thing to realise just how much control we have over our bodies.'

Stay down! Matthew's ripped body was in stark contrast to his days back in hit TV show Lost

Trained killer: Matthew played the role with dedication but hated every minute of his training regime

He added: 'I never watch my films while we’re making them, so when the images came out on the internet, someone sent it to me.
'I opened it up and was like ‘holy s**t’. I could hardly even believe it was me. But, it was exactly what I wanted to look like.'