BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) – Jerry O’Connell got a surprise when he saw part of his character’s wardrobe in the new CBS comedy “We Are Men.”

He didn’t find out he would be wearing a skimpy swimsuit in several scenes until he saw it hanging in his dressing room.

The suit wasn’t in the original script. As a result, O’Connell told the Television Critics Association on Monday that the show is probably his “most nerve-racking job.”

“We got to work very early and it’s a little chilly outside. I’m continually trying to make sure blood is flowing to every part of my body,” he said. “We’re a couple episodes in and I’m in the Speedo continually. I have joined a gym and I’ve started drinking light beer. I don’t know how guys like Michael Phelps do it all the time.”

O’Connell first gained notice as a pre-teen in the 1986 film “Stand By Me.”

“I was known as the fat guy from ‘Stand By Me,'” he said. “I guess I’ll be known as ‘Speedo guy.'”

O’Connell’s wife, Rebecca Romijn, knows a thing or two about swimsuits as a former Sports Illustrated cover model. She now stars on the TNT show “King & Maxwell.”

“My wife’s advice was, ‘Go get a tan, do some pushups and maybe do some Pilates,'” O’Connell said.

O’Connell, Tony Shalhoub and Kal Penn co-star in “We Are Men” as newly single men sharing temporary digs. The show debuts Sept. 30.

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