A conversation with Tyson Beckford

”Chippendales” has enticed many guest stars over the years to spice up the long-running male revue at the Rio. The latest gentleman to join in the gyrations Tyson Beckford, widely regarded as the world’s top male supermodel. The handsome headliner recently began his third run with the show since 2015. And although his engagement is scheduled to end in June, there is already talk of him returning to the stage later this year. His Jamaican-Asian roots and superhero physique make him a favorite with women in the audience, two of whom are selected each night to come onstage and tear his tank top to shreds, revealing his perfect pecs and six-pack abs.

Review-Journal: You have been on the other side of the lens for a long time. Do you ever feel objectified?

Beckford: I felt like that five years ago. But it’s a love-hate relationship with the camera. I love it for a while, I hate it, and I’ll love it again. I go through my stages with it, you know?

You’re also a photographer, right?

Yeah, I’ve been shooting for a long time … beautiful landscape photos of oceans, sunsets … I just haven’t put out anything yet. I do want to put out a book of what I’ve shot.

You started as an actor, not as a model?

I was bit by the acting bug when I was really young, like 6. I loved old movies, black-and-whites with James Cagney, Gregory Peck, James Dean, Sidney Poitier, Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr. — the early Rat Pack. I watched all that stuff. I moved (from Jamaica) to New York City and went into acting, then got a chance to model, and the modeling became bigger than the acting.

Any fitness tips?

Drink a lot of water. Stay hydrated. It is a desert here. It can dry your whole body out. And work the abs. I do at least 400 to 600 ab crunches a day.

I try to set a window of time, 15 to 20 minutes. On the ground, feet up, crunch-crunch-crunch-crunch. The core is the main focus for everything I do. Secondary thing is pushups, 500 to 1,000.

I’ve read that you were teased as a kid for your looks. When was that, and what did it feel like?

Awful. No one likes to be bullied. It was going on all through when I was growing up, and I got teased because my features are different. I was a late bloomer, so when I was 12, I still looked like I was 6. When I was 16, I looked like I was 12. I suffered from what you would call the “Benjamin Button Disease,” it seemed like the older I got, the younger I looked. But I was very strong, very flexible and learned to fight really quick.

When did it stop?

It never stops, really. You never stop being teased and bullied. I’ve got ex-girlfriends teasing me and bullying me. But people who do that to you are jealous, and uncomfortable with themselves and are pushing their bad energy to you. They want to hurt you. I’ve always used it to make me stronger and better … success is the best revenge.

John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section, and Fridays in Neon. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on Twitter, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.