If you're not watching TNT's over-the-top dramedy Claws, set in the seedy underbelly of a South Florida nail salon, you might wonder why star Karrueche Tran trained so hard for her role as Virginia, a nail salon employee. This kind of dedication is usually reserved for actresses taking on superhero-level roles or doing tons of action-packed stunts. But watch just the first episode and you'll get it. "Virginia has the least amount of clothes!" Tran tells Glamour with a laugh. "Her booty is always out; her stomach is always out. I was like, 'I gotta keep myself together!'"
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"Virginia comes from the strip club, so she has muscle from dancing," explains Tran. So she started working with a trainer to focus on "my abs and my ass! We wanted to build the booty up and make my stomach flat. But I didn't want to be perfect—we're all real women. We're not perfect. I worked hard, but I wanted to look realistic."
Tran's workouts included a treadmill warmup ("I hate the treadmill," she says) and a focus on leg and butt moves, including a lot of squats. "I wasn't into training or working out before this. Now I like squats; I like working with the resistance bands. I really like working with someone one-on-one—my trainer kicks my butt!"
While the workouts were a big change, her diet hasn't changed as much, thanks to some good genes. "Diets don't really work for me," she says. "I want to be fit and have some meat on my bones. I stopped eating carbs and red meat for a month and a half, and I was like, 'Oh, no, I lost my butt!' I have to eat potatoes and rice and meat to bulk up. But I do try not to eat too much fast food."
