John Goodman has always been candid about his personal struggles, and in a recent conversation on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, the beloved actor opened up about his dramatic physical transformation and the challenges that came with it.
The topic arose unexpectedly during a discussion about his work on the HBO series The Righteous Gemstones. When asked if there was anything in the show’s material he felt went too far, Goodman revealed a vulnerable moment.
“Oh, yeah. There was one scene,” he admitted. “I thought I was going to have to be [ ] in it and I said, ‘I don’t know. My body’s too messed up losing all this weight.'”
Despite the public celebration of his weight loss journey, Goodman confessed he’s still adjusting to the changes.
“I’m still trying to get used to my face,” he said candidly. “It’s weird. I think of myself as one way and then I look at myself ‘Oh, wow.'”
When podcast host Josh Horowitz noted that we all tend to lock into a certain version of ourselves at a particular time, Goodman agreed wholeheartedly. “Yeah. It’s strange. It’s fun to get used to. Yeah, that’s a lot of stuff I’m getting used to,” he reflected.
The conversation then turned to whether his weight had ever limited his opportunities in Hollywood. “I’m sure it did. And a lot of it I think would might have been self-sabotage,” Goodman acknowledged.
He recalled arriving in New York early in his career at around 225 pounds and in good shape, even running daily through Hell’s Kitchen and around the Manhattan piers.
“I wasn’t crazy about it, but I wonder if I sabotaged myself,” he said, suggesting his weight gain may have been a way to protect himself from certain opportunities or expectations.
Host Horowitz also pointed out the strangeness of having one’s body discussed publicly.
“It must be weird. I wouldn’t enjoy people talking about my body as if it’s just sort of something that’s fair game,” he observed.
Goodman’s response was pragmatic but tinged with resignation: “I just ignored it, you know, since I’m in this business, it is fair game up to a point.”
