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While filming a show in Italy could have its challenges when it comes to all the delicious food, Jesse Williams revealed he actually lost weight.
“I started thinking I was going to have to be super rigorous. But I think exhaustion [from filming] helped me not put on many [pounds],” Williams, 44, exclusively told Us Weekly of his time filming Hotel Costiera. “But also the sad truth is it’s not America. So it’s real ingredients and it doesn’t bloat or inflame you so much.”
Williams noticed the different way his body responded to food while on production overseas.
“I lost 13 pounds shooting this show and I was eating pasta and bread all the time,” he revealed. “I hear that story time and time again. People come here or Europeans go to America and they immediately get sick and they’re eating organic [food in the United States]. It’s a different world. So I was lucky in that respect here.”
Prime Video’s Hotel Costiera, which premiered on Wednesday, September 24, follows a former Marine Daniel (Williams), who works as a fixer at a luxury hotel while also tasked with finding the owner’s daughter.
Williams told Us that playing a Marine pushed the actor physically.
“I did [do my own stunts]. That stuff is important to me — within reason. I’ve been banged up and injured enough through athletics to know some limits, which I couldn’t say 10 years ago,” Williams noted. “But I worked with these incredible Special Forces guys who were contractors and transitioned into private life and service. They are now using their distinct set of skills in the way this character does. So they gave me a lot of advice.”
Williams didn’t just learn about fight training and stunt coordination for the role, either.
“I’ve got a little bit of a background in fighting forms. I built on that and worked with my performance coach — my trainer in New York who trained me for Broadway when I was playing a professional baseball player,” he continued. “Those kinds of explosive athletic movements, they are similar in combat. You do have to respect the choreography because it’s safety first and there’s a lot of ways to get injured.”
He added: “That was fun. I love pushing myself in many ways but in that way [it] was really awesome. The hardest part was I was exhausted after working long hours and as a producer you always have several more hours of work to do after.”
Hotel Costiera also allowed Williams to fully immerse himself in Italian culture.
“Language is a big barrier. I learned a little bit of it. But being there a few months in, I was able to get through the first two-thirds of a conversation. And I was able to surprise people in being able to get in and out of expressions and conversations,” Williams shared with Us. “Moving through Rome — and especially Naples — which I really grew to love, that is a place where it gives you back the love that you give and the respect that you give.”
Williams recalled when he felt more like a local, saying, “There were absolutely moments in restaurants where I am coming across people who know my face and I’ve made some impact on them. But then they hear me talk to them in Italian, which throws them off completely. They embraced me in that way. So I had a really nice welcome.”
Hotel Costiera is currently streaming on Prime Video.
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