Joel Kinnaman has 2 metal bars in his chest because of pectus excavatum

Swedish-American actor Joel Kinnaman says he has two metal bars in his chest, and has had them in there for three years.

Kinnaman, the star of the new Netflix show Altered Carbon, was a guest on the Norwegian-Swedish talk show Skavlan recently, where he told Skavlan, the Norwegian host, about the incredible amounts of weight training he had to do for the show.

The topic then turned to how proud Kinnaman is of how he looked, and how for much of his life he was embarrassed to take off his shirt because he had a medical condition called pectus excavatum. A condition where the chest and the sternum grow abnormally, until a section of the chest is actually concave.

Kinnaman said the pectus excavatum he had was so severe, it was causing his chest to press against his heart. Making it difficult for him to exercise too much or to get over exerted.

Then he heard about a surgery that could be done to cure the condition, and so he decided to have it. A surgery not for the squeamish, I might add.

Because, during this surgery, Kinnaman’s chest had two metal bars inserted into it — through his ribs and into his chest. Then the bars were shaped and expanded in such a way that they pushed his chest out. They were then were affixed to his ribs to keep them in place.

Three years later, and he still has these metal bars in his chest.

“It’s real life Robocop!” said Kinnaman.

Kinnaman went on to explain he was then given the part on Altered Carbon right after his surgery.

“So, I was like “Rock and Roll”, and he slammed his fist and laughed.

As for the training he had to do in order to be fit enough for the role? Intense hardly describes it.

Kinnaman had to train for six months for the role, for three to five hours a day. Then continue that training while he was filming.

No wonder he was so proud of how fit he ended up being, and how well he overcame his problems with his chest.

Watch Joel Kinnaman in the Skavlan video below to also hear his comments about the #MeToo movement, and do check out that photograph of his body after all that training because, man, that man is a very hot boy.

Related: Watch Adele say she loves it when people say “No” to her — nope, she’s definitely not a diva





