British actor Eddie Redmayne has been gifted a portrait of himself as his Jupiter Ascending space villain Balem after complaining directors Andy and Lana Wachowski didn't show off his abdominals in the blockbuster.

The Oscar nominee was disappointed when he saw the final cut of the film because all the scenes featuring his sculpted abs had been cut, and there was only one blink-and-you'll-miss-it shot left.

He says, "Part of the deal was I had to be ripped and I've never been ripped in my life, so I did that thing that Hollywood actors do of being fed nothing but chicken for months and doing, like, a gazillion stomach crunches... (but) I don't think there's a moment of observing the abs."

Redmayne had hoped to hit the beach as soon as the film wrapped and show off his toned torso, but then he landed the role of Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything and had to slim down.

Explaining his story during an appearance on late-night show Conan on Monday (02Feb15), the actor was presented with a large framed portrait of himself in character.