David Hasselhoff hit the gym for 6 weeks to work with 'The Rock' in 'Baywatch'

— -- David Hasselhoff played the iconic “Baywatch” character Mitch Buchannon for 11 years, but when he found out Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson was taking over the role for the updated movie version, he knew he had to step up his fitness game to appear next to him on the big screen.

“The first thing I did was say, ‘Well, if I have to shoot a picture with Dwayne, I better work out,’” the actor recalled on “Good Morning America.” “So I got in the gym for six weeks and put on about 10 pounds and I was ready.”

Hasselhoff, 64, said the movie reboot is “different” than the classic '80s “Baywatch” television show, but “it’s very funny … it’s very today.”

“You can’t recreate an '80s television show. You just can’t,” he added.

The actor said he told co-star Zac Efron the secret to “Baywatch’s" success is simply “being cool,” but also to “make it real.”

Hasselhoff is also keeping busy with his award-winning Netflix show “Hoff the Record,” in which he plays a fictionalized version of himself.

“The show is really based on me,” he said. “It was actually a chance to take all the stuff that has been written about me and what people perceive of me and put it on television and have fun and say, ‘Hey, wait a second. I’m a real guy. I’m David Hasselhoff. I’m not ‘The Hoff.’' And then put the comedy element in, with the improv, it worked. We won an international Emmy and we’re proud to say it’s on Netflix now and it’s doing great.”

"Baywatch" hits theaters May 25, and you can watch "Hoff the Record" on Netflix.