Actress Jaimie Alexander plays a strong, powerful character on TV (you know her as the tough and tattooed Jane Doe on the hit series Blindspot), and she’s just as hard-hitting in real life. The woman works out with a US Navy Seal! Here, her opinionated take on life and exercise.
Actress Jaimie Alexander plays a strong, powerful character on TV (you know her as the tough and tattooed Jane Doe on the hit series Blindspot), and she’s just as hard-hitting in real life. The woman works out with a US Navy Seal! Here, her opinionated take on life and exercise.
It’s near the end of the day at the Shape cover shoot, and Jaimie Alexander, 32, is devouring an oatmeal cookie and washing it down with a beer. You’d think the slim actress would run in the other direction from desserts or carbs, but like her mysterious character on Blindspot, Jaimie is full of surprises. As her Cavalier King Charles spaniel–poodle mix, Etta, plays nearby, Jaimie sits down and tells us all about her weight (she used to be some 9kg heavier), those crazy tattoos that cover her body on the show (she has a few of her own) and her best workout moves for guaranteed results. Read on for everything we learned.
GIRLIE IS A FOREIGN CONCEPT TO JAIMIE.
“I grew up with four brothers. I used to play sports with them. And I liked wearing their clothes. I’d run around in T-shirts, jeans and baseball caps. Even my nickname, James, is a guy’s name. I didn’t understand how to be comfortable being feminine, painting my nails pink and wearing girlie dresses. No wonder I didn’t have a lot of female friends until I was in my late twenties – I just didn’t know how to be around them.”
SHE EATS LIKE A DUDE.
“I learned a lot from being around boys all the time. I’m not easily off ended, and I have a certain toughness. I also eat really fast. If I didn’t, my brothers would take my food. When we were young, they would go: ‘Oh, there’s some chocolate left? Mine!’ It made me durable. I can take a lot.”
SKINNY IS SO NOT HER GOAL IN LIFE.
“I pretty much eat all day to keep my strength up. I’m primarily a vegetarian who has an occasional side of fish. When I trained for [the Thor films] (she played warrior goddess Sif), there were days when I was burning 4,000 calories and I had to slam lots of protein shakes. Now, my day starts with a green shake called Garden of Plenty, which is packed with superfoods and grains. When I’m working, craft services (the department in charge of feeding the crew) make me these amazing gluten- free wraps with lots of vegetables and ‘vegannaisse’ or hummus. I generally keep my diet pretty healthy, but if there’s pizza, I’ll eat it. And I will knock back a beer or some bourbon too. I don’t deprive myself. And I hate being skinny. It’s not a good look for me. When I eat well and work out, I’m truly at my best.”
HER WORKOUTS ARE HARD CORE.
“I do what’s called a prison workout – a lot of sprint- interval work and burpees – which I have a love-hate relationship with. My latest obsession is Valslides by Valerie Waters. You can use them anywhere, on hardwood floors or carpets. I do lunges, push-ups, pikes and ab work with them. I also have a TRX band and a jump rope in my trailer. And I love swimming. It’s a great low-impact, high- cardio workout. I never did it as a kid, but for Blindspot, I trained with a Navy Seal.”
HER HIGH-SCHOOL SPORT: WRESTLING. YES, WRESTLING.
“In competition, I only went up against females, but I trained with the guys because there weren’t enough girls on my school team. All the discipline and perseverance I have now comes from that sport. I get through all the intense physical training for Blindspot because of what I learned from wrestling.
SHE LEARNED TO BOX WITH CHRIS HEMSWORTH...
“I wasn’t very healthy in my twenties – I sat around and ate a lot of crap, and my weight peaked at [roughly 68kg]. Then I got the part in Thor. I felt as if I had a whole new purpose in life. I was like, I can do this, but I was so out of shape. Chris and I started boxing to train for our roles, and I became the athlete I was in high school. I lost [about 9kg] and packed on a ton of muscle.”
...AND WORKED OUT WITH ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER
“I [was in] The Last Stand with Arnold, and everybody went to the gym together. It was super intimidating to work out with him because he was curling a gazillion [kilos], but I did it. On set, the crew had a perfect push-up contest, which Arnold supervised. I lost, but I learned that I can do 25 of them, so I felt pretty good about it.”
SHE IS JANE DOE.
“When I read the script for Blindspot, I [thought], wow, this ticks all my boxes. The character is vulnerable but tough; the role uses my sports and fighting background; and my character’s body is a massive canvas with an endless number of tattoos. They’re actually glued onto me. The first time I got all the tattoos applied, my body kind of went into shock because my skin – my largest organ – was covered with glue! But once I relaxed, it was extraordinary, especially when I caught sight of myself in the mirror. Every Friday, I take off the tattoos, and every Monday, we put them on again. This has been such a cool role for me to play because, honestly, if I weren’t an actress, I’d be fully sleeved with tattoos anyway.”
SHE HAS NINE TATTOOS OF HER OWN.
“One is ‘ES’, which stands for elephant shoe. When you mouth the words, it looks like you’re saying I love you. I used to say it when I was younger as a joke, and now, I use it as a reminder to be playful and childlike. I also have one for each of my four brothers, Brady, David, Chance and Matt. And I have a quote on my left hip that [reads] ‘I am not what happened to me. I am what I choose to become.’ I think it’s such an important reminder that you have the power to change where your life is heading and that you can be anything you want to be.”
