Guillermo Ivan Stays Screen Ready By Mixing His Love of Both Sports and Acting

Six Hours Away is streaming now on all major platforms including Hulu, Apple TV, and Amazon Prime Video. The premise sees Guillermo Ivan as an ex-Marine Chris Montano, on a personal mission to save his missing daughter and ex-wife before time runs out. The role called on Ivan to test his mettle both mentally and physically, as he committed himself fully to the art of living his character.

To find out how the fast-rising star is able to tackle such full-on roles, M&F sat down with the man himself and soon learned that a love of meditation and exercise powers this passionate performer.

“It was such a blast doing it,” says Ivan of his latest movie, but he’s is no stranger to doing his own stunts. The actor is having what could be described as a breakout year in 2024. The star is already known to millions for his role as Joel Benitez in the hit Telemundo show, Al Otro Lado Del Muro (On the other side of the wall), and in addition to Six Hours Away, Ivan is also poised for the release of Desert Dawn, working alongside Twilight’s Kellan Lutz. Still, completing Six Hours Away would be one of Ivan’s biggest tests to date.

“Physically, it was very challenging,” he shares. “I had to train myself for the character. I had to train with ex-Marines,” says Ivan, noting that the only way to get into a character fully is to live their life rather than simply do some research on the internet. “You have to be there. You have to feel it,” he explains of the process. The training for Six Hours Away was extensive and included combat scenarios, infiltration, extraction, and how to handle weapons.

Guillermo Ivan was born in Mexico City and fell in love with acting when he was spontaneously added as an extra in a movie at just six years of age, after a chance visit to a park during a family vacation. He is now an accomplished director and award-winning performer in his own right, but he also loves to throw himself into any stunt that he can. The star explains that aside from sequences that production companies won’t let him do, like “jumping out of a plane”, he is all-in when it comes to the action. “When it comes to fights, and motorcycles, cars, whatever I can do, I will do.” Of course, this actors ability to challenge himself stems from a love of being in great shape. Ivan has practiced soccer, martial arts, and boxing and when shooting for long days, he still gets his workouts in, even if that means 4.30am starts. “It’s become part of my life,” explains the hardworking performer.

Guillermo Ivan Takes a Holistic Approach To Staying In Shape

Consistently lean and ready for those ‘shirt off’ scenes, Guillermo Ivan tells M&F that his approach is all about staying in shape at all times, rather than panicking between projects. The actor takes a wholistic approach to his health too and begins each day with a moment for meditation rather than reaching straight for his mobile phone. Morning workouts are fasted, powered only by coffee and water. Those a.m. sessions involve a mix of cardio and weightlifting, working on his strength, endurance, and flexibility. The ripped actor then replenishes himself with a protein shake.

Now ready to start the day, Ivan crushes the items on his busy schedule such as table reads, emails, and media interviews, and says that once he eats his first meal of the day, he will keep eating every couple of hours. “I try to eat enough protein, and enough vitamins, but I don’t follow any (specific) diet,” he explains. Ivan is incredibly active and attends a second workout in the evening, usually revolving around his boxing training. “The second training (session) is very intense, in terms of cardio,” he says, noting that after one final meal he’s more than ready to hit the hay. Ivan uses Sundays to get outside and do some kind of “chilled” active recovery like going for a run. Sundays are also a time for the actor to enjoy whatever food he fancies. The star says that being so active and watching most of what he eats allows him to be flexible and keep his healthy regime sustainable, while being able to have a little of what he enjoys too.

Guillermo Ivan Is an Athlete at Heart

Ivan tells M&F that while he loves the path that he has been on since that chance day in the park, he always wanted to be an athlete “deep inside.” The star played soccer as a kid, and relished 100 and 200m runs. Even into his teen years, Ivan wanted to pursue sports. “Me and my best friend, we were committed to sports,” he shares.

“We wanted to become the next soccer players at that time.” Tragically, while they were both playing for the Mexico City football team, Club Universidad National (also known as Pumas), Ivan’s best friend died of bone cancer. “Because of that, I took an acting scholarship that (was being offered) and that took me away.” Ivan travelled to Cuba, and then to New York to pursue life as a director and performer. “It was just destiny, if I am honest with you,” he says. “But sports were there from a very early stage.”

Guillermo Ivan says that sports, and meditation have helped him to process his feelings, and there is little else that makes him happier than when he can get outside and exercise. “I’m always bouncing between Los Angeles, New York, and Mexico City,” he explains. “When I’m down in Mexico I try to take advantage of the weather, and I go outdoors, I go to the beach. If I can train in really hot weather, that’s my favorite.”

The future is certainly looking bright for this hardworking actor.

 Six Hours Away streams now.