Meet the Sexy Stars of New Netflix Series 'Marco Polo'

Published
ETONLINE

The stars of Netflix's potential new binge-watching obsession, Marco Polo, stopped by the ET set to talk about the historical drama and the countless shirtless scenes.

Italian actor Lorenzo Richelmy, 24, is poised to become Hollywood's newest heartthrob for playing Marco Polo in the 10-hour series, but he doesn't believe he's worthy of the distinction.

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"I don't think I'm beautiful enough to be a sex symbol," Lorenzo told ET's Brooke Anderson. "I think I have a good face for the screen, but I'm not like Leonardo DiCaprio or Brad Pitt. They're super beautiful. I'm more of a rough beauty."

Lorenzo's fans may beg to differ once they get a load of his shirtless scenes. The young star is bare chested for a good portion of the series and even appears nude at one point. He filled us in on the fitness regimen that he undertook to get ready for baring all that skin.

"Basically I had to do 10 hours a day of training. And it was like, 'Give the best of yourself for every second for 10 hours,' and then at the end of the day you have to put your body deep into a bathtub full of salt. Otherwise the next morning you wouldn't be able to move a finger."

With its reported $90 million budget, Netflix is banking on Marco Polo to be a big success. While Lorenzo says he's not feeling any pressure at the moment, he did admit that he was one of the show's only stars to have never been a part of a massive production.

WATCH: Go Inside Marco Polo -- Netflix's Grandest Show Yet

For co-star Joan Chen, who plays Empress Chabi, this is old hat as she starred in The Last Emperor, which won the 1988 Oscar for best picture.

"It's the same," Joan told ET of the similarities between Emperor and Marco Polo. "Thousands of extras, the same exotic flavor and also the same quality people in all the departments."

Marco Polo, also starring Benedict Wong (Prometheus), Zhu Zhu (Cloud Atlas), Tom Wu (Scorpion King), Chin Han (The Dark Knight) and Rick Yune (Olympus Has Fallen), premieres Dec. 12 on Netflix.