Jonathan Majors’ new movie Magazine Dreams is finally out, and some viewers are asking if the actor’s character is based on a real bodybuilder. Magazine Dreams was a huge critical hit when it first premiered in 2023, although it was pushed back after Walt Disney Studios decided not to release it due to the controversies surrounding Jonathan Majors. However, another distributor has picked up Magazine Dreams, with the new Jonathan Majors film now available to watch.

Magazine Dreams tells the story of Killian Maddox, a bodybuilder played by Jonathan Majors. Maddox dreams of being a world-famous bodybuilder like many of his idols, although he is stuck working a menial grocery store job. Maddox deals with anger issues and taking care of his elderly grandfather as he attempts to move up the world of bodybuilding, although things never go as he planned. Magazine Dreams is a great story, but some are wondering if it is a true one.

Magazine Dreams’ Killian Maddox Is Loosely Inspired By A Real Bodybuilder

The Director Saw Him At A Gym

The story of Magazine Dreams is entirely fictional. However, the character of Killian Maddox is loosely inspired by a real bodybuilder. Magazine Dreams director Elijah Bynum discussed the inspirations for the film in an interview with IndieWire, with him stating that he decided to write the film after an experience at his gym. Bynum stated that he saw an incredibly dedicated bodybuilder working out, with him being interested in how the gym responded to him. Here are the writer and director’s full comments:

“He seemed to be in quite a bit of pain, like physical pain, spiritual pain, emotional pain, but there was something that kept him going there every day. He was clearly very ambitious about what he was doing and clearly was very driven about what he was doing. What was most interesting was how the rest of us in the gym were responding to him, because he was an intimidating figure. No one wanted to be caught looking at him, so we all just sort of looked the other way and pretended he wasn’t there. I thought there was something very interesting about a character or individual human who moves through the world that’s both feared and ignored at the same time.”

So, while the story of Magazine Dreams didn’t actually happen, it was rooted in Bynum’s experience with a real-world bodybuilder. The story of the Jonathan Majors film is Bynum’s speculation about what could have been going on in this bodybuilder’s life, leading to the wild and tense story of Magazine Dreams.

There Is No Real Bodybuilder Named Killian Maddox

Jonathan Majors Plays A Fictional Character

Jonathan Majors’ character in Magazine Dreams is not a real person, as there is no real bodybuilder named Killian Maddox. Magazine Dreams does not claim to be telling a true story, with Maddox being a fictional character that Bynum made up for the film.

Maddox, along with the rest of the characters and events seen in Magazine Dreams, are not real. The specificity of Magazine Dreams and general audiences’ unfamiliarity with the world of bodybuilding may lead some viewers to falsely believe that the story is true. However, outside of Bynum’s initial inspiration, Magazine Dreams is a fictional story.