Now that O’Shea Jackson Jr. has wrapped filming for the third installment of “Den of Thieves,” he’s got time for a slight flex — literally.
The actor showcased his sculpted muscles in an Instagram post on Tuesday, Sept. 30, where he detailed his timeline for reaching his fitness goals. To those who once joked he looked like a “snow cone” or a “Teddy Graham,” they’ll have to eat their words after his latest transformation.
Images of Jackson Jr. standing between two elliptical machines in the mirror sent fans into a frenzy as he sported gray shorts and a black tank top, proudly showing off his gains.
Jackson Jr. kept his flex subtle by only stretching his left arm across his abdomen to show off the muscle tone. And though it’s clear that he’s been putting in work at the gym, the NAACP Image Awards winner says that his work is nowhere near done.
He wrote, “9 months down. Give me another 9 and it’s GGs.” But Jackson Jr. appears to be so confident in his fitness stride that he claims he may not even need three of those extra nine months.
He wrote, “Meh. Let’s call it another 6 months. D3N of THI3V3S. Den 3 coming.”
Fans reacted in the comments to his transformation with a mix of jokes and support.
One person said, “Yooo you finna turn into incredible hulk lol. But I respect you fam you doing your thing.”
Another person joked, “That’s his son Ice Block,” referencing Jackson Jr.’s father, Ice Cube.
Someone else said, “Looking sharp already big man.”
When one fan tried to downplay his progress in his comments, the 34-year-old didn’t hesitate to clap back. “Gotta get them legs tho. Too many guys out here looking like Johnny Bravo lol,” they joked.
Jackson Jr. responded, “lol Black people can’t have sh-t. I said 6 more months man dang lol.”
The person commented back with a light-hearted response adding, “I’m just messing with you, brother. Love the progress and can’t wait for the third movie. Big fan!”
“Appreciate you, man,” replied Jackson Jr. “No trainer yet. So now that I’m done filming, I’m bouta really get after it.”
The “Straight Outta Compton” star’s weight loss initially became noticeable back in July during his appearance on the podcast “INSIGHT with Chris Van Vliet.”
A few behind-the-scenes clips and photos from the taping reveal his much slimmer build over the summer. “I see he’s losing some weight,” said fans and, clearly they were onto something.
According to Jackson Jr.’s recent post, he’s been working out since January of this year, which means by the time he filmed “INSIGHT” he had already been getting in shape for six months.
He gradually began to pack on the pounds after portraying his father in the ”Straight Outta Compton” biopic back in 2015. During that time, Jackson Jr. was the slimmest that the world had seen him since making a name for himself.
A chip off the ole Cube! #Straightouttacompton in theaters now!!! pic.twitter.com/lF4QWiJrzO
— Ice Cube (@icecube) August 18, 2015
Jackson Jr. didn’t share a lot of posts of himself between that time and the present, but during his press run for the sequel to “Den of Thieves” late last year and the top of this year, the weight gain became noticeable.
It’s not clear whether fans were the push Jackson Jr. needed to get into the gym or if he motivated himself. Either way, it looks like he’s on his way to living more healthy and hitting his body goals by next spring or summer.
