Rupert Everett "ruined" himself in pursuit of the perfect body and is now "almost crippled as a result".

The My Best Friend's Wedding star, 67, has confessed he hit the gym hard back in the 1990s as he attempted to achieve a sculpted physique but he couldn't "be bothered" with making sure he lifted weights safely and he's now paying the price.

He told the Guardian newspaper: "I ruined myself. Now I'm almost crippled as a result. I could never be bothered to do all those things, like stretching, which were necessary for lifting weights, because your tendons get tighter and tighter.

"So boring. I didn't do any of that. So now my demise will be musculoskeletal, I think."

He went on to confess that before he took up weightlifting, he used to wear a specially-made bodysuit under his clothes to make him look more buff - and he even wore it when he was working.

Rupert said: "I met these two queens in Tufnell Park [north London] who made bodysuits, and they made me a false bottom, false calves, false shoulders, false everything ... Yes [I wore them], in everything."

When asked if his directors knew about the bodysuit, he replied: "No! I'd go into the fittings for the costumes with all my things on."

It comes after Rupert revealed he was "in bed for two weeks" because he "couldn't get over" being allegedly "fired" from hit Netflix series Emily in Paris.

The actor played interior designer Giorgio Barbieri, who reunites with his old pal Sylvie Grateau (Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu) - boss of Emily Cooper (Lily Collins) - when she looks for a new office in Rome, Italy, in the season four finale of the hit Netflix comedy-drama series.

However, Rupert did not appear in the fifth season of Emily in Paris because he claims he was dropped without explanation.

He told Vanity Fair Italia: "I did a scene in the latest season, and they told me, 'Next year we'll speak.'

"I waited for them to call me - but ultimately, it never came, and they just fired me. Show business is always very difficult, from the beginning to the end. "When they write the screenplay, they think they want you--but then things change, and they lose your character. I don't know why.

"For me, it was a tragedy. I was in bed for two weeks because I couldn't get over it."

Vanity Fair reported "a source close to the production" said Rupert "was hired as a guest star, and his character's story came to a conclusion".