Fame, Drugs and Food - Actor Ethan Suplee's Darkest Years

28:57And I told my agents, like, I need to, we need to find me something, uh, where I'm somewhat more lovable. I can't, you know, and, and they were like, well, there's a football movie about racism. And I was like, I can't go be another bad white guy. And they were like, no, you're the one white guy who's not racist. And I was like, great. So it was, it was nice to follow up American History X with that movie. Can you be placed in a bracket if you sort of follow those films and then you become one dimensional? I think so. Yeah, I think honestly, I'm, if anything, placed in a bracket of stupidity, which I don't really want to do anymore.

29:37Like, um, I, you know, I've done a lot of kind of, and even, even in American history X, I'm the least smart or the least intelligent character in that movie. You know, if you have anyone who I think is at all sympathetic, I think it's my character simply because he's a moron who's just surrounded by these bad people. And, you know, if those people had been selling drugs and listening to rap music, that's what my character in American History X was. I don't think he had any true convictions to his racism. He was more just a product of his environment. Point is, like, I've played a lot of dumb characters and I think more than even being a, more than even being in the fat guy, I played the dumb guy, you know?

30:26Just want to feel part of something. Yeah. Yeah. I like that kind of, it would've, you get that though, people who follow. Yeah. They just want to feel part of something. That's it. I interviewed a man called Johnny Adair. Johnny Adair was part of the UDA, but very smart. He killed many people are allegedly. So the UDA and the IRA used to fight. Right. but Johnny was the leader of the UDA, but he says, if I grew a mile up down the road, I'd have been fighting for the IRA. Sure. So it's your product and environment and you will get followers who just want to feel part of something. It's tribalism.

30:58Yeah. People who follow sports teams, basketball, baseball, football, soccer. Yeah. They want to feel part of something. That's right. You know, and it's just. It's, we are, I think we are genetically tribal. A lot of great actors and remember the Titans as well. Yeah. How, because you sang the song, weren't it, in the changing room? Yeah. Ain't no mountain high. You were part of that. Did you know it started that? That was in the script. We had to learn a bunch of songs prior to filming the movie. And like during rehearsals, when they were still getting the songs clear, because each time you do that, you have to pay somebody a bunch of money.

31:33And so the songs kept changing. They would say like, no, now, now work on this song. We don't know if we can afford the other song. How was that when like all the other kids are all fit and healthy six packs and you're overweight? Does that play in your mind, or are you just there to do a job? No, yeah, it was brutal. We, the two or three weeks leading up to the filming of the movie was a football training camp, and every morning you went to football practice, basically, and they wanted to run it like a proper training camp. And I was exhausted just by stretching. You know, the stretching lasted 20 minutes, a half an hour, and I was done.

32:11I couldn't even do the warmup because I was so shot after the stretching. So we would do the stretching, I would be panting, and I would go and sit, and this was on a... at a high school football field, and there were kind of like concrete bleachers to one end, and a track, and before they even started the warm-up, I would go and sit on the bench, and then before they started the actual workout, I would just try to disappear, because I couldn't do anymore. It was... Yeah, it didn't feel... And we're back. Streaming on Peacock. May I present to you the award-winning staff of the Toledo Truth Teller.

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33:4050 gigabytes may slow when network is busy. See terms. I never felt, um, confident. I was kind of always in a state of shame and embarrassment. Were you depressed? Yeah, sure. Brian Gosling was in that movie. Yeah. He's ended up turning out to have a great career. Yeah. How was he? He was young back then. He had a very small part, but he was young. Yeah. He had, he had just done a television show called The Young Hercules. um he was such a nice guy man such a good moral guy what about blow blow's one of my favorite movies johnny depp yeah great movie great movie great movie true story yeah crazy story him and penelope cruz with the tracksuits on at the end like this unbelievable movie like again you must have knew working with johnny depp drug movie all has sort of donny brascals and they've all been mega, did you know that blow was going to be?

34:36Well, again, I don't think blow was all that successful in the theaters. I think it became a cult movie. It wasn't a total failure, but I don't even know if it made its money back. No way. Yeah. I don't know. I think these movies went on to become popular on VHS and then on DVD and then, you know, whatever we have now, but you know, you can watch anything at any time now, but yeah, I don't know that that was a successful movie. I don't think that was like a box office smash. I think in the UK it was. Really? I think these movies are mega in the UK. Maybe America's a different ball game. Maybe you set your standards.

35:13Maybe, I don't know if you undercut yourself. I don't know, but that's a great movie. I think they just want to make their money back. You know, I think that's the standard is if we spent$20 million on this movie, we want to make$20 million in the box office. How was it working with Johnny Depp? great awesome guy really nice guy yeah i liked him a lot how was the weight then because i know you've said you've went from 550 450 300 450 like it's been up and down the self-sabotage looks as if it kicks in as well when it goes up and down like when did you it never went down until after 2002 so it was just going up but i don't know because i there were no scales around that i could get on.

35:57Um, so I have no idea what it was, but if I look at below I'm heavier than I was during remember the Titans. Um, and if I look at, uh, either of those movies, there's a movie like I'm heavier in the butterfly effect, which was that's a great movie. Yeah. Which was 2002. Um, and then I started filming cold mountain in 2002, but then I had like six weeks off and that's the first time I went on a diet. So the first like tick down in my weight was 2002 on like during the filming of Cold Mountain. How were you when you were flying on airplanes and stuff? Was it awkward? It was the worst. It was the absolute worst I have.

36:47And you know, what's really strange is I still bring with me all the travel anxiety from then that has nothing to do with the present and today. But it affects me in the same way. It's all subconscious. You know, like I, at my size, I would have to get to the airport really early because I'm, because something ha - I mean, it's, this is a long, crazy story, but. Yeah, that's okay. Um, I remember for the premiere of the of Remember the Titans, we had not met any of the people who played us, who we were playing. So it's all based on a true story. We're playing it. By the way, that's another thing that I thought of recently.

37:33I played a lot of real people. Like Remember the Titans was a real person. And, um, Below, I played a real person. And I did a movie called Deepwater Horizon where I played a real person. There's another one I'm not thinking of. Anyway, for the premiere, we met everybody we played. the real Lou Elastic and thinking like, Jesus Christ, dude, you're not really fat at all. Are you feeling, I felt like embarrassed for him that I was playing him. And then we got on and we were at this big stadium called the Rose Bowl for the premiere. And they, I mean, it was, it was fucking massive, dude, the premiere for this movie.

38:11They had, uh, you know, Air Force flybys and we all went out to take a lap on these golf carts and i got on the golf cart and the fucking deflated one of the tires and so all the other kids go out and they're doing their lap and me and and the real lou elastic are standing there like i just broke the golf cart and i had to like rush in a new golf cart and somehow i didn't break the second golf cart and we had to catch up but of course, with me on the golf cart, we couldn't go very fast. So you had all the football players get on these golf carts and do a lap. And then like a few minutes later, here comes me alone with Lou Elastic on the golf cart, going super slow, puttering around this field alone.

39:00That was embarrassing. I knew that airports had golf carts that would drive you to your gate. I couldn't do that because it felt embarrassing, but I also thought I might break the golf cart. And so I would arrive at airports like two hours early, just to make sure I could walk slowly to the gate. But then, you know, getting on the plane, I never fit well in the seat, even on first class. There's like an armrest that's probably a good six, seven inches wide. I would spill over onto the armrest. Um, and, and like whoever was sitting next to me couldn't use the armrest at all because my body literally took up all that space.

39:52Um, and I would hide the seatbelt under my stomach. So it looked like it was closed if the stewardess walked by when they have to check, but often they'd want to see that it was latched and I have to show, I can't get this thing. I mean, it's not even close. We're talking like two, three feet left before the seatbelt would close. And then they'd have to bring the, you know, they do that whole little show of like, here's how you close the seatbelt. Here's how that's, that's something I would use as an extension. They would bring me that to get, and that's all terribly embarrassing. it's also exhausting it's a lot of walking and and when you're as heavy as i was travel was never fun the point of all that is i still get terrific travel anxiety um and my wife is the type of person who wants to be the absolute last person on a plane doesn't give a shit if she misses a not a big deal to her.

40:55She, you know, has no desire to be early to an airport. And I still have that. And when I logically connected to the fact that the majority of my travel was being done when I was morbidly obese, and it was really difficult, and I don't actually have any of the difficulty left in traveling, I still experience the anxiety connected to it. Yeah, the trauma. Yeah. What made you keep going? What made you, what gave you the strength to feel uncomfortable all the time, but always keep showing up? Um, well, eventually drugs helped with that a lot. That shit will do that to you. So you are taking drugs during filming?

41:36Yeah. What were you taking? Uh, for most of those movies, pills, uh, benzos, you know, Klonopin or Ativan or Xanax, Valium and opiates. Is that mixed together? What is that? Is it definite polls at definite themes? No, I would just take everything at the same time. You know, if I could get, you know, some Soma or Restrol, those are muscle relaxers, and mix it with an opiate and mix that with a benzo, that was like a great cocktail to me. And if I could get a little Adderall too, to keep me awake, that was perfect. Were you ever suicidal? No, not, not actively suicidal, but there was a time when my sleep was so, uh, difficult.

42:33I couldn't breathe laying down. That was due to the weight and I was doing a lot of drugs. And, uh, I remember many nights laying, getting into bed thinking I'll probably die in my sleep and not really caring enough to go like, I should probably change the way I'm living my life. So I don't think that's suicidal, but maybe not far from it. How was it trying to sleep at night? I would have to sleep sitting up. I couldn't lay down. That bad? Yeah, I just couldn't breathe laying down. There was too much weight on my chest. That's heavy, that. Yeah. Yeah, dude. I mean, it was 300 pounds heavier than I am now.

43:22Yeah, that's fucking mad. Yeah, no, you were fat. Like, there's no denying it. It was gigantic. I could not have fit in this chair you got me in. Yeah. What about John Cue? You didn't look as big then with Denzel movie. It was pretty damn big. Were you? Yeah. How did they get your clothes and stuff? Did they have to make it special? Yeah, everything was made. And we're back. Streaming on Peacock. May I present to you the award-winning staff of the Toledo Truth Teller. Slap me. Jar something loose. Ay, yes! I like that. The Certified Fresh Series returns. Your boss. You always like this? Or is this just an act?

43:56Oh no, this is mad. Oysters, everybody! There's a certain satisfaction when you work with someone. Maybe we could be a family. sick pig. The Paper. New season streaming September 9th, only on Peacock. This show gives me a reason to laugh. This episode is brought to you by ChatGPT. Hey, it's Bill Simmons from the Bill Simmons Podcast. Have you guys heard about ChatGPT work? It's the new way to use ChatGPT for bigger multi-step projects. And when you need more than just answers, give ChatGPT work access to your apps and files and it can create real work documents like spreadsheets, slides, and structured reports.

44:35Get started at chatgpt.com by selecting work mode available on plus and pro plans. Ryan Reynolds here for Mint Mobile with your summer price forecast. Now, unfortunately, we're seeing rising costs across the country with possibility that big wireless hates you 100%. Now over here at Mint Mobile, we're seeing sunny skies and dropping prices every plan to just$15 a month. Give it a try at mintmobile.com slash switch. Upfront payment of$45 for three months,$90 for six months or$180 for 12 month plan required$15 per month equivalent taxes and fees extra new customer offer for initial plan term only greater than 50 gigabytes may slow and network is busy see terms for me then yeah and that my friends had actually had an intervention with me right before filming that movie and said like look we we we know what's happening we know you're doing these drugs we want you to stop and like and this was like the second intervention they'd done with me.

45:35And basically they said, if you don't take a sober living companion with you and get clean, we're going to tell the producers and your agents that you're a drug addict and that you're killing yourself. And so I agreed and took this guy and I'm actually still very close with him today. I did not stay clean, but I've become really close with this guy, Scott G. Um, and he came with me and I got off drugs. I was very sick for a week. Um, and then, you know, a week later I told him I'm cured. I no longer need your services. You can go home. And the day he left, I started using drugs again. But it potentially started the wheels in motion to save your life.

46:24Yeah. You know, it's a tricky thing. I think, because I've been sober, I've been working on diet for so long, so often I am... People ask me, will you talk to my kid? Will you talk to my brother or my husband? Will you talk to somebody about drugs or even diet? And it is a tough position because I have found that people don't change until they want to change. And so, now that's not to say I don't think you should... I think you should communicate with people how you feel, right? Like every time my friends did an intervention, it was terribly uncomfortable and I hated it. And I didn't, and it did not produce the result they wanted it to produce.

47:11I didn't go like, oh yeah, I'm going to get sober now. Um, but you know, two and a half decades later, I'm really happy they did that. I'm glad they did that. Um, and, and it might've been a brick in the path towards me figuring it out for myself. Yeah. It's a long, it's a long road recovery. It's not just one day, one month, one year, 10 years. Or one conversation. Yeah. Yeah. But sometimes that one word or one conversation can spark something and ignite something in you and go, yeah, because we don't, people tend to listen to people they're not really close to. Yeah. You don't listen to family or friends because they're easier to fight with.

47:50Yeah. They're easier to hurt because you know them, you know, they've always been. you become selfish with that. You know, but it's the people you think, that, I felt that there. Maybe I should listen. Yeah, the thing that actually finally worked for me in at least making me want to get sober was actually having a doctor tell me I was gonna die. I had congestive heart failure, and I didn't know what was happening. My feet would swell up, and I would, uh... And the drugs were not really working as well. And so I would stop using them and get sick for a week or 10 days or something. And then my feet would stop swelling and I could get high again.

48:31And this went on and on and on. And the swelling kept building and then I would stop. It would get up to my knees and I would stop and the swelling would go down. And then when the swelling was gone, I knew I would be able to get high again. And finally the swelling, I stopped using drugs for a week and the swelling wasn't going away. And I went to see a doctor and the doctor said, you have congestive heart failure. When the swelling gets up to your chest, you're dead." And she said, because it's not going away, and you've stopped using drugs, you're gonna die. Like, you're very close to death.

49:03And that was the thing that made me want to go like, well, okay, if I'm gonna die, and I believe you, like, when I would lay in bed at night thinking, I'm probably gonna die, I didn't totally trust myself, because so many times I hadn't died. I'd had that thought, and it didn't come true. And so I, I had this, like, I'm not going to listen to myself, but I was going to listen to that doctor. She made it, she made a damn good case for the mechanics of how I was going to die, um, and how uncomfortable it was going to be. Uh, and, and that was kind of the thing that made me want to get sober. Why do you think you're still alive?

49:42I have no idea. I really don't. You know? Because part of, part of it is a lot of self-harming. Yeah. Not just the drugs, but the overeating and the setting up in bed, not really caring if you wake up or not. Yeah. Like it is fucked up. It is. I did learn to, to kind of, uh, self harm in a positive way. I learned that I was capable of a great amount of discomfort. I started riding bikes in 2010 and man, riding a bike, um, is kind of like a love letter to suffering. You know, that's kind of the point is just suffering, learning or experiencing that suffering over a long period of time. And I could do that, which was wild.

50:31Because even when I speak to you about American history X and a blow, do you think you can't enjoy them and realize how big they were because you were so high and unhappy back then? Maybe I haven't, I, yeah, I have no idea. I've never seen either movie, so I don't know. Have you not? No. Why not? Because I just don't like watching myself. Have you ever watched any of your movies? No. Never? Mm-mm. I can understand maybe not watching the ones where you feel as if you're overweight and you know you are taking drugs because it's hard to look back because when I look at old photos of me that I've never posted online, I'll post the odd one or two that I always post.

51:13There's some videos in that and I think, wow, I just lost and you can see how broken I am. Yeah. You can see the pain. You can see the pain in someone when they're dabbling on drinking drugs and not happy. Yeah. You can see it now that you make changes. It's not, it's not really a fun thing to see. I did a, I did a, a little, I've never watched, I've never sat and watched a movie I was in. That's, that's not entirely true. I did a horror movie that'll be out in March. and the director did a screening in Los Angeles, and I invited people to come and see it. And then right before it started, which is when I'd usually leave, I felt bad about leaving, because it wasn't like a premiere or anything, and you can kind of slip out, and there's so many people around.

52:05This was like a small screening, and I wanted to leave, but I didn't, because I felt like it would be rude to the people I invited. So I did watch that. That might be the first thing I've sat through from start to finish that I was in. Like some of those movies were great. Some of the actors were great. So you would go to the premieres and then leave before the movie starts? Yeah. I would go and go and sit down. And then when the title came up, I would get up and leave. Were you uncomfortable as well trying to sit in the seats? Yeah, but that wasn't really the thing that drove me out of the theater.

52:41because I like going to the movies. I really do. It's one of my favorite things to do is go to the movies. Yeah, no, it's a good escape. I've sat and watched a good movie with popcorn. We get popcorn with M &Ms on top of it, and we get the recliner chairs now, you can put your feet up. It's only gotten more comfortable. And it fucking should be with the money it costs nowadays. You know, it's not cheap anymore. So what was the turning point to then decide, okay, this is it, that I really want to lose weight? What was the moment? I'd been sober for a while, for about a year. And, uh, and you know, I, I think when I really try to psychoanalyze myself, the majority of my life, I was just trying not to think about my weight.

53:31um, you know, there were certain things I was conditioned to do. Like I would check the strength of any chair before I sat down in it. Cause I was afraid I'd break it. And - Did any other break? Yeah. I'd broken chairs before. Yeah. Or, or sat down. I remember once I sat down on a friend's couch and I just heard a crack and I knew I'd broken like a beam in the couch. Um, and laughing. It's not funny, but it is funny. Yeah, that was, that was life. And I still will like prior to sitting down, I'll push down on the chair and see like, is this 30? Is this at risk of collapsing under me? You know?

54:08It's funny now because you look good and you've done amazing. So you can sort of laugh, but it couldn't have been a nice feeling. No. Just constantly eyes on you and are they looking at me because I'm overweight because I'm in the movies? Can I sit down in this? Can I put this belt on? Like your life must have been on sort of not autopilot, but how far you could have actually went, you must have done everything to your limits, but everything, how you try to balance it, all knowing the steps that you need to take. While at the same time, trying to segment your mind so that the, so that you're experiencing the shame, but you're not analytically thinking about why you're experiencing the shame, right?

54:47It's weird because if you sit down and really think it through, then the, the solution is just like, well, I need to lose weight, but that's coming so much later. So trying to figure out why I never really tried to do that is tough. And the only thing that I, I believe is that I was trying actively to not think about it. You know, could you wait better on us? Yeah. Yes. Yeah. What about shovels and baths and stuff? Yes. I was, I was never, uh, I was never at a point where I had to be cared for in those ways. Yeah. Yeah, but that's a good thing. That's what I'm saying. You - Right, I mean, it's also possible that getting to that point might've sped it up, but yes, no, I was never at that point where I had to be cared for.

55:38Yeah. What about with The Butterfly Effect, Aston Kutcher? That was another great movie. That was another great storyline. Yeah, again, I'm not sure it was a huge hit in the theaters. You know, this is what you want. You want it to be a huge hit in the theaters. I don't know if it even fucking matters today, because so few people go to the movies, but in the nineties, in the early two thousands, that was it, you know, prior to streaming and all that. When the start of your journey, did you go on a, was it a water, water diet or soup diet or liquid diet? Yeah. So I had been sober for a year. How was that period, that year of being sober?

56:15Could you start appreciating your accomplishments or were you just still concentrating on the weight? I was the first after I got out of rehab the last time, everything was just about staying sober. Two, two, two things to say about that. One, drugs were going to kill me a hell of a lot faster in my weight. Like I was on death's door because of drugs, not because of my weight. You know, it would have taken years longer to kill me because of my weight and drugs would have killed me in weeks or months. Um, so I had to focus and I tried many times to get sober. Um, so I had to really focus on sobriety and about a year into it, I started seeing this girl and life was as good as it, the best it had ever been.

57:08And then I had an awkward conversation with a dude on a plane who was basically like, like, look at you, dude. You are a mess. And I'm sitting there going like, a mess? I'm fucking sober. I've been sober a year. I'm doing great. I'm going to film a movie right now in Romania. And he was like, he was like, you're a mess. Who is he? Jim Caviezel. Was it just a random guy or something? No, no, an actor. He was an actor, who I was supposed to work with years before, and the movie we were gonna do fell apart, and we never worked together, and we had never met. And then we bumped into each other at this fucking, in this airport lounge.

57:45And then we happened to be on the same flight. And then the fucking seat next to me happened to be open. So, you know, 20 minutes into the flight, he comes and sits down next to me and, and basically is just giving me this lecture. Now his point of view in the lecture was you're not emulating Jesus Christ. That didn't mean anything to me. I, I've never thought about emulating Jesus. This is not a goal or a pursuit of mine, but I got what he was saying, which is fucking look at you. You're a mess. And I had also not been, I'd been actively not trying to view myself, not to examine anything other than my compulsion to do drugs and drink.

58:38And when I landed, I, I, more than anything, I realized like, oh, I really like this girl I'm seeing. And if I don't address my weight, there's no way my relationship with her lasts. It's going to, it has to end because I'm already begging off from doing things she wants to do, like go on a hike or go to the movies or go to a museum because I can't stand that long. I don't want to be seen on a beach. Um, and, and so that was really the turning point. That was where the determination on changing my physicality came. Because in blow, I think you were wearing a t-shirt, white t-shirt. I think you're wearing t-shirts.

59:25You get to have a say as well, if you're uncomfortable with what you want to wear in movies. Oh, you mean like on the beach? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I was never going to take my shirt off in a movie. No fucking way. So that's a great conversation with that man on the plane, though. That is brutally fucking honest. I am so grateful for that conversation. It was awful. Yeah, it's painful. It was fucking awful. I hated it. I hated every minute, and I am so grateful that he had it with me. So grateful. So what was the steps then to start exercising, eating cleanly? How hard was it for you? I called my girlfriend at the time from Romania, and I'm sobbing and I'm like, and I told her this and it was as though I was telling her a secret.

1:00:11Right. It was, it felt like I was telling her something she didn't know because it, none of it really made sense to me how she could know about the state of my body and still care for me. That didn't make fucking sense. So she must not, none of it was rational, but you know, sometimes we feel irrationally about things. So when I first started talking to her about it, I felt like I was telling her like I'd robbed a bunch of banks, you know, and all I, and basically I was telling her I need to lose weight. And she was like, all right. Okay. And I was like, well, I don't know what to do. And she was like, okay, well, you're there for a few more weeks and then you come home for a break.

1:00:57And she said, how about just don't eat bread? That's it. Nothing too hard while you're there. just don't eat bread and I was like that's it that's all I have to do like I don't have to starve myself tomorrow and she's like nope just don't for the for the rest of your trip there no bread so that was that was pretty fucking easy and then I landed um and she said when you get back to LA I'll have another thing and you'll do something else but for this period of time and You know, it's so fucking funny because for 15 years, her saying that to me, I thought bread is evil. I can never eat bread again.

1:01:38That wasn't the point. The point was exercise some responsibility, make a decision about what you're eating and stick to it. And that I was able to do. I took it the wrong way. I eat bread every day now. But there was a long time where the lesson from her, don't eat bread for these few weeks. For me, it was still about the bread. It wasn't about my behavior. It wasn't about my compulsions. It wasn't about my lack of will to exercise responsibility over what I ate. It was about putting the responsibility into the food itself and deciding. because she said that then bread is bad. It took me 15 years to fully understand that that wasn't the point at all, that she didn't care about.

1:02:27It could have been cheese. It could have been red meat. It could have been dairy. It could have been sugar. It could have been any of those things. But it was just to get me to take one step into being responsible for what I ate. And then I got back to LA and she had this mad liquid diet ready for me. And I did that for, I was supposed to be back in LA for six weeks, but then filming got stalled in Romania and so it turned into two months and I did the liquid diet for two months. Lost 80 pounds, went back. And when I went back, I was on this whole nutrition plan. There was this nonsense about eating for your blood type.

1:03:08Like I was type O and I had a list of foods I could eat. It was mostly meats and vegetables and I just ate that. And I continued to lose weight, but it was slow. And that's how I began. See, when you were eating, would you, because usually when you see obese people, when you see them in restaurants or having breakfast, their plates ain't that big. Yeah. They'll sit with one pancake and a few berries, and you can see them eating. I'm thinking, you don't eat that. You know, we are judgey bastards, but were you like that as well when you were just - I did not. I never wanted to eat in public. Eat alone?

1:03:38Yeah, yeah. I didn't eat in public. I didn't eat the way I wanted to eat in public. It would always be, like, late at night by myself, where I would just binge eat. What would you have? Pizzas? Crisps? Yeah, crisps or french fries? Potato chips? What are crisps? Yeah, crisps. Potato chips. Potato chips. Um, yeah, anything. I would go to the drive-thru of, like, uh, McDonald's, or I knew every late-night drive-thru in Los Angeles. Every one that was open late. And it depended on what, like, I could go, I could drive 30 minutes if I felt like something very specific. Go down to Hollywood, you know, Astro Burger was open till 4 a.m.

1:04:19Or I knew of the late night Wendy's, I knew of the late night Del Taco, I knew of the late night Taco Bell, I knew where I could get a pizza 24 hours a day, a place on Fairfax called Damiano's. Damiano's? Yeah. No. Yeah, anyway, it's now John and Vinny's. But there was a pizza place, 24 hours, I could go there and, and I would get food for six and go home and eat it alone. And, um, if I went out to eat with my friends, I ate like a thin person, but I ate like a very, very fat person by myself. So you weren't sleeping at all? How many hours I sleep would you get? You know, I could, I could go in and out of sleep for eight or 10 hours, but I wasn't, there was never like a good restful night's sleep because I couldn't really breathe.

1:05:10So you've done this 80 days, you've lost what, 80 pounds? I lost 80 pounds. I have no idea. And by the way, this was not a hundred percent scientific. My parents had, um, an old analog scale with a, with a, uh, uh you know you'd step on it and you'd see the whatever the dial would go around and it went to three 280 pounds it stopped at 280 pounds but i would get on it and it would swing back past 280 past zero and it would go up and up and up and so i was constantly doing math right if it stops at 280 here and then i would measure and from here to here is about this much and it And that means that's another hundred pounds.

1:05:58And, and I knew from rehab, I weighed at least 536 pounds. And so this analog scale said I was about 550 pounds. And then that went down by my calculations, 80 pounds by the time I went back to Romania. How was it when you actually stuck to it and you actually started losing weight out and you were off drugs? Was that the first time in your life you proper felt you were on it? You were sort of locked in? Yeah, I was definitely locked. Yeah, I, it was not fun doing a liquid diet. You know, you're always cold. Every time I'd stand up, I'd almost black out. Like my vision would go, my hearing would go.

1:06:42I'd have to like, I was, I'm shocked. I never actually fell down. Um, but yeah, I mean, since that day, there's been very little time, not, not zero time, but very little time where I haven't been fairly focused on it to some degree. Have you ever done a water fast? Just water now. It's supposed to be good for you. Apparently kills cancer cells, shrinks tumors, maybe three days. I'm not talking to people doing 80 days. I'm not certainly telling people to do what you've done as well. that's extreme, but the addict mind, we are extreme anyway. I will say there are other, there were times where years later, you know, the other thing is I would get doing these diets, like whether it was low carb or the blood type diet, or they would get to the point where they just weren't really working anymore.

1:07:39I was nowhere near the weight I'm at now and not happy with my weight and still doing this diet and just not losing weight. And I did another liquid fast in there. And when I had gotten down to like from 550 to 350 and I'd do another liquid diet for a month and get close to 300, every time I did that years later, the weight came back really quick. Like I would lose 30, 40 pounds in a month and then gain 50 pounds in three months after that. So I stopped, I did stop trying to do those at a point just because the weight kept coming back so quickly. When did you really start sticking to it instead of the yo-yo?

1:08:29And when was the turning point to really go for it? And did you have a set weight in mind where you wanted to be? in, in, I had, I didn't have a set weight in mind in the beginning. Um, but I remember the first time a number started to be like a goal, I think it was 2014, 13 or 14. Maybe it was even before that. No, it was before that. Maybe it was 2012. Anyway, I, uh, I was riding a bike like a maniac. I would ride a bike eight hours a day. Like, I thought I was gonna be, like, a professional cyclist or something. Line, Tom's truck. Yeah. I went one year to the Tour of France and rode most of the stages and followed the tour.

1:09:15I mean, I was proper obsessed. I loved Mark Cavendish, a countryman of yours. Yeah. He was kind of newish back then, but he was winning every sprint. He was super impressive. uh and uh i got down to 240 pounds i was at 240 and i started to think like i i thought i probably need to get down to 220 pounds but i should go see like a proper doctor to get a number because i don't have a number and i'm not eating a lot and i'm doing cardio for many hours every day, and it's hard. I'll keep doing it, but, like, I didn't have a goal. And I went to see this doctor. His name's Dr. Huizenga. I think he was the...

1:10:04And we're back. Streaming on Peacock. May I present to you the award-winning staff of the Toledo Truth Teller. Slap me. Let's draw something loose. Ay, yes! I like that. The Certified Fresh Series returns. Your boss, you always like this, or is this just an, oh, no, this is mad. Oysters, everybody! There's a certain satisfaction when you work with someone. Maybe we could be a family. You sadistic pig! The Paper. New season streaming September 9th, only on Peacock. This show gives me a reason to laugh. This episode is brought to you by ChatGPT. Hey, it's Bill Simmons from the Bill Simmons Podcast.

1:10:40Have you guys heard about ChatGPT work? It's the new way to use ChatGPT for bigger multi-step projects. And when you need more than just answers, give chat GPT work access to your apps and files, and it can create real work documents like spreadsheets, slides, and structured reports. Get started at chat GPT.com by selecting work mode available on plus and pro plans. The big sports medicine doctor in Los Angeles, he was like a fancy proper doctor, sports medicine guy. And I go into his office and we start to talk about what I'm doing. And I go, I know I'm not, I know I'm still, I still need to lose weight.

1:11:21I'm thinking I need to lose another 20 pounds and get down to 220. And he goes, 220? No, no, you need to get to 185. And I was like, fuck 185 that's like fucking that was 55 pounds more to lose and i'd been fucking killing myself just to get down to 240 and i said and he saw how disappointed i was and he said listen we're gonna give you get you a dexa scan maybe it's 190 maybe it's not 185 maybe you have more muscle mass than I can see. And we do this DEXA scan. That's where they, you know, it's this big fancy machine and they can tell exactly how much fat, exactly how much muscle, exactly your bone density, all that stuff.

1:12:11And it's the most accurate way to gauge a body fat percentage. And we did it and he looked at the results and he didn't like the results and he made me do the test again. So I go in and test takes a half an hour. It's a shitload of radiation. Like you're not really supposed to do them back to back, but he thought, he thought the thing was broken. And we, I did it again. I come back to his office and, and he goes like, you don't need to lose weight. You're 14 % body fat. You got a shitload of muscle. You're done. You you're done. And I walked out of his office going, what the fuck does he know?

1:12:50I'm going to lose that. I know I need to lose 20 pounds because I don't feel better about myself. I don't feel great. Like, I don't feel fixed or solved. And I lost that additional 20 pounds, and I just couldn't hold on to it. I would just, it was just like fighting fucking tooth and nail to keep that off. And then I gave up on all of it and went back up to close to 400 pounds. Was that self-sabotage? Or did you do therapy to try and address some sort of inner demons, because you've got there, you've done it, and yet you still get there's something missing. But getting there was almost impossible.

1:13:31But you've done it. Yeah, but then holding onto it, you just can't... I couldn't live like that. I could not live like that. It was way too hard. So you achieved it all, you're off the drugs, you've got to the weight you want, you've got... The weight I thought I wanted, because here's the thing. I thought when I get to some magical weight, it will be like enlightenment. Take the pain over here. I will just, I will know it when I get there because I will be solved. I will be fixed. I will be filled with confidence. I won't experience self-loathing. And it will be like this joy that I can carry around with me for the rest of my life.

1:14:13When I stepped on the scale at 220 pounds, I was happy. It was, I felt happy for the rest of that day. And then the next day that was gone. And I was just back to being myself. How fast was it to put on the other 180 pounds? Took years, a couple of years. So you just let yourself go again, not cycling? I stopped cycling. I remember I got back up to 240 and then I was on the beach with my kids and in Hawaii for some vacation once, and paparazzi took pictures of me and wrote, like, look at how fat Ethan's to please let himself get. And I was still at, you know, 15 % body fat. I was not technically fat, but I remember looking at that going like, I can't win.

1:15:05Fuck this. I'm gonna, I'm gonna, I'm not gonna intentionally gain weight, but I'm not gonna kill myself anymore. And the weight came back fairly quickly. By the time, um, I started doing a show called Chance for Hulu, I guess in, in the UK it's Disney plus. Um, I was back very near 400 pounds and that was 2016. Did you ever think about taking drugs again? And not on that period. No, because I had, I got married to the girl that I loved. I had kids. Um, so, you know, it, that was never a huge temptation. Who was the mood swings? Mood swings were, I mean, I was a hell of a lot friendlier when I was eating whatever I wanted.

1:15:58Yeah. Versus, I mean, when I was, when I was pretending to be a cyclist, I was fucking miserable. I was not pleasant to be around at all. I was starving myself and doing eight hours of cardio every day. I was, I had no energy. Do you think you cause you've pleasured the brain so much? Because I always think about this, like I'm doing amazing in life. Where I've came from in Glasgow, Scotland, very rough area, addiction, prison, changed it all, created one of the biggest independent podcasts on the planet. Never feel satisfied. Yeah. People say to me, I'm doing amazing. I think when they walk away, fool you, you cunt, because they don't know what's up here.

1:16:37Yeah. Like I'm fucking nuts Like sitting here Having a great conversation But up here it's like I can be happy I say like Come in the present moment James Like enjoy it You're doing great And I'll feel great For like five minutes Something negative From ten to eight years ago And it can ruin my day For one, two, three days Yeah And I'll be in a slot When I see people Yeah I'm a good actor But then I go home Like I'm here myself And I'm out last night I'm eating steak Mashed potatoes And I felt good Then I'm getting a cake And then I'm going to the shop And getting crisps And I had a Snickers and it wasn't enough.

1:17:09It's like, I sat in the air and it's like, I'm like a little rat. And then, and then you finish and you feel a little bit sick, uh, and then you feel guilt and it's just a compounding thing. The effects build up. It's not a good cycle to be in. Even though you are on the cycling and feeling good and hitting targets, you, you just never satisfied. Yeah, but the targets were unrealistic too, man. The targets were like, get down to this. I mean, genetically, I'm not meant to be 12 % body fat. You know, I'm not meant to hang out at 10 % body fat. I did that intentionally where I tracked it and I got down to 9 % body fat.

1:17:47And like, it was cool. But it would just be, it would have to be my life's focus to stay there. That means I don't have time for my wife, for my kids, for work, for anything else. All, everything would have to be just maintaining that body fat percentage. That's not the life I want. So you put it all on again, 2016. Well, not all. Not all. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So what happened then? Because you're looking great now. Yeah. Then, um, in the end of the year, I, I ruptured my bicep and, and I, and I was working out. I was going to the gym. I, I wasn't doing cardio, but I was lifting weights. Um, cause I felt, cause exercise that, that was one thing I learned, uh, fairly early on was that I felt better when I exercised.

1:18:38Like I, my mood was more stable when I exercised. I then took it way too far and got into cycling and then took it way too far and got into CrossFit. And it was like, no, you got to kill yourself every day to feel better. And that's not true. I found that there was a happy medium where I could get, um, a real good workout in and it would enhance the rest of my day. It would actually make me feel like I had more energy for the rest of the day. There was because if I worked out too hard, I would have fatigue for the rest of the day. But if I worked out hard enough, I would have more energy and more positivity.

1:19:16So I kept exercising. And in 2016, I ruptured my bicep and I had to get a surgery. And I was shooting in San Francisco, but talking to a doctor in Los Angeles about doing the surgery. And... when I got to LA, he was like, oh shit, I didn't know you were this big. You can't... We had had this all planned to do in a surgery center, like, not in a hospital. But you're so heavy, we can't do that. You have to stay in a hospital because you're at a higher risk of death from going under anesthesia. Um, and that bummed my wife out. She had never once talked to me about wanting me to lose weight. But when she heard that, she was like, listen, I don't care if it's five pounds.

1:20:08You have to get your weight under that number. And the number was 350. You have to get your weight under 350 just because like we're parents and we have responsibility. And if you're at a higher risk of death because you're over 350, fuck that. You can't. So just get your weight under that. And then I was like, yeah, I'm fucking back to being miserable. My sleep's starting to suffer again. And I, and I, and what am I doing at 400 pounds? Like I want, and then I was like back to going like, yeah, I'm not happy at this weight. And I just got back into it again. My initial solution was blame the food.

1:20:51It must be the carbohydrates. So I'm off carbohydrates again and I'm doing keto. And then I was doing key, cause then keto, stops working and I'm not losing weight. And so I'm doing keto and hiking and lifting weights. And, and, uh, finally I saw a Ted talk by a guy named Dr. Mike Isretel. Well, it was two things. It was one, um, this idea that, uh, there was one solution for the majority of people kind of started to leave my mind. Um, the idea that there was a one size fits all diet, that everybody should be low carb, that carbs were killing or causing obesity started to lose my mind. And, and, and a lot of it was this Ted talk, um, where this guy just basically broke down, it's called the scientific landscape of healthy eating by Dr.

1:21:49Mike Isretel. And, uh, and I watched it the first time and I hated it. And I was like, fucking this guy's full of shit. He doesn't know. And then I watched it again. And by the third time I was like, well, I'm really struggling and I'm not losing weight anymore. Doing no carb. You know, I lost 15 pounds the first week and five pounds the second week and two pounds the third week and one pound the fourth week and nothing the fifth week and nothing the sixth week and nothing the seventh week and nothing the eighth And then I was just like, okay, I guess I gotta do keto and be hungry. And so I'm eating these tiny meals, and then I'm losing weight again, and I'm struggling and hungry all the time.

1:22:30And I'm like, this is bullshit. This is not working. And I just found that, um, you know, ultimately, far more than any specific food type, it was my behavior with food and my compulsion towards food and my relationship food. And the fact that I'm not always eating because I'm hungry, you know, I'm eating to soothe anxiety, to cure boredom, to uplift me. And, and I really shouldn't be eating for those reasons. It sounds tiresome though. That's a tired, some mindset. Whether you're fat or skinny, you're still battling. Yeah. Whether you're skinny, you're cycling, not eating. When you're fat, you're sort of happy, but you know, you should be losing weight.

1:23:14It's a never ending cycle of just pain. Yeah, but I've, I'm not in it anymore. Like that cycle is done. I, it took me a couple of years to learn how to eat and to separate the different types of hunger. Um, is it emotional hunger? Is it advertised hunger? Right? Because I could walk down the street and see a billboard for McDonald's and feel hungry. but is it actually that I need food or is it that the billboard sparked some chemical reaction in me that caused uh hormones to suggest you should eat those are different things you know um and after really working for a few years on learning how to maintain my weight which is something I never did on any of the diets until about 2017.

1:24:14That was the thing that changed everything for me, was learning like, oh, I can eat rice and bread and even a little dairy, but I have to eat it in moderation, you know? It's crazy how much, because I've mastered no drink, no drugs, no gambling. Three of the toughest. Sure. The eating. As soon as I eat, I can't stop, because then I'll walk past a shop or a cake shop. I just, I think I've already eaten, so I may as well just eat as much as I can. They say it takes 20 minutes for the brain to realize you're full. I don't get that 20 minutes. Well, that's what I'm talking about. It takes 20 minutes for your brain to realize you're - Eating.

1:24:54You've eaten and that you don't need energy, but that's not the only pathway to hunger. Then this is not me making this up. There are scientific pathways to hunger called the hedonic pathway, which is just emotions can make you hungry. Advertisement can make you hungry. There's a whole study done where you can eat a steak and wait 20 minutes and feel full and every signal in your body has told you you're full and your stomach is full and they put an ice cream sundae down in front of you and your body will make room for it. It'll push that steak down and it'll send out chemical signals in your body to say, no, you're still hungry.

1:25:43You have room. You need to eat that. Generally, it can be too hard on myself and life as well. Listen, if you're 540 pounds, you've got to be a bit hard. But I think, like I battle with my weight and like I said, it's only like 10 to 20 kilos, but I already feel uncomfortable with the face and I try and take a photo and I don't like the photo because my face is fat. And then someone in the comments was saying, he's put on the weight and then I'll just go and eat because I think, fuck it, I'm already fat. And you'll feel better if you eat. Yeah, but it'll last, it's a very, it's a brief window that you feel better.

1:26:12Yeah. So that's your kind of, what about the loose skin in that? Yeah, yeah. That's the other thing that was just not, uh, discussed. I think it's discussed more, certainly with, um, social media, it's more prevalent, but when, when I, you know, there was, I cannot think of one diet book and I've, I've been on every single diet, just about, um, every fad and get rich quick scheme diet that's existed. None of them talk about loose skin. None of them tell you that if you lose, if you have massive weight loss and that that's 50 pounds or more that you are most likely to have loose skin. And so when I initially was at, when I was.

1:27:02I guess I was around 300 pounds. Um, and I'd lost 250 pounds and I had just giant sails of loose skin, flaps of loose skin. Um, and I kept waiting for it to go away, you know, to tighten up. Like, how do I lose this skin? When is this going to happen? And I finally started seeing people and one guy said, well, you need red light therapy. And so I'd go and sit under these red lights, did nothing. Another nutritionist said I needed mineral wraps. And so I'd go and they'd wrap me in plastic and I'd be sweating. And it had all these herbs and minerals wrapped around the plastic. And that was meant to do it.

1:27:45And then at night I'd put lotion on my skin. Did nothing. The fact is that skin is an organ. And once an organ has grown to a certain size, it is not shrinking. You can reduce the size of fat. you cannot reduce the size of skin. Once it has grown out, it's designed to be elastic, but if you stretch it out and then keep it there, it's going to grow to that set point so that it can be elastic from there because it always wants to give you room to get bigger because fat is stored energy. It's like a savings account for your body.

1:28:24And the only way to get rid of it is to have it cut off. how was that procedure awful was it fucking awful yeah not fun at all miserable how long does it take um i believe i did two procedures to remove loose skin and the first one took eight hours so it's a big it's a big operation it's big operation yeah how was it being sedated and stuff on the drugs that like awful the the last surgery i had were you scared that you could have slept back. Yeah, totally. And, and, and, and I, you know, I did what it was not good, but the last surgery I had on my bicep, I had to go in and argue with them and go, go like, look, I'm a sober person and I've had surgery and it's really fucking hard, um, to wake up full of opiates.

1:29:18So you can't give me opiates. And I had to argue with the people about it. And they were like, no, when you're unconscious, we're giving you fentanyl. And I was like, you can't, you're not allowed to give me something else. Give me, um, ketamine is what they wound up giving me. I used to snort ketamine. Yeah. So they're like, yeah, that's about fucking horses. Yeah. So as, but now, now they give it to people in America. And if you, if you have a, if you have a predilection for opiates, uh, that was the, that was the option that I was given and, and it was better, you know, they weren't giving it to me while I was awake and I had to also tell them, look, the minute I wake up from surgery, I'm going to demand drugs.

1:29:57You're not allowed to give them to me. Did you? Yeah, absolutely. Right when I was opening my eyes, you know, and they're saying, wake up, wake up and all of this. And, and you're so thirsty. You just want to, you know, chug a bunch of water. They won't give it to you. And, and I, and the very first thing I did was said, give me drugs. Yeah. Cause when I was at the start of my recovery, I think it was about two years i was offered to do ayahuasca and obviously like people i had sponsors and stuff i never followed a full 12 steps i dipped my toe into ga a ca na i went to like meetings just to kind of get medicine and understand that i wasn't alone i got offered ayahuasca and i thought fuck i'm doing this because i i then wanted to make a documentary on it because it was like a free pass so in my mind I'll still try and find loopholes so in this jungle high as a motherfucker ayahuasca and people are having half a cup I had a cup doesn't mean fuck all I had another cup I thought okay I'm starting to see shit another cup I was outside they had to take my mattress outside I woke up next to two dogs I must have been fucking tripping balls because I thought I was in hell and then it was I just become greedy to it It was a great experience, met amazing people, never went back.

1:31:20But the mind should have done it, probably not. But I created the documentary as a free pass to do it. Yeah. You know? Totally. Yeah, I was tripping balls, man. Yeah. Fucking loved it though. Yeah, yeah. I could totally see that was my inclination with surgery. It was like, oh, if I hurt myself or find something I need to fix, I can get high while I'm recovering. It's a dangerous game. It's a slippery slope. Yeah. When are you at your happiest? I'm at my happiest when I'm working or spending time with my family. Are you getting more roles now or do you struggle that you're not that guy that you used to be?

1:32:02It's just totally different. Um, like I'm, I'm not playing as many stupid characters, but that's by choice. I still get asked to do that sometimes and that I'm not totally interested in doing. Um, but I just had a show on Amazon here. I don't know what the fuck you guys call that. Do you have Amazon? I was on TV. Yeah. Yeah. That's massive. It's like Netflix. Yeah. And this show, which was really funny, um, is about an Indian family moving from India to Pittsburgh and they get me and my very Christian wife as neighbors. and she keeps trying to convert them and like, you know, uh, talking about how they smell of curry and, and it's, it's a really funny show.

1:32:51I guess you're British, so you might think that that's just how people smell. Um, but it's, it, it was created by an Indian guy who was able to push the limits on what's acceptable. And it's a very funny show and I'm the, me and the husband, um, um, are kind of like the one, the neighbors who are trying to make peace between our wives. What's the best role you like? What's the roles you enjoy? My favorite role ever was the Stevie show chance on Disney plus because I got to play, um, a very intelligent, very violent guy. Um, and that was just a lot of fun. And then I have a horror movie coming out in March where I play just an evil son of a bitch.

1:33:33And that was also fun. Can you get a lot of frustration and anger out playing sort of those parts? Yeah, but I don't know that I feel a lot of frustration and anger, but yeah, I suppose you could. It could be cathartic in that way. Yeah. What about Wolf of Wall Street? A lot of fun. Blockbuster. Yeah. That was a success. Yeah. That was a success. But I think you undermine yourself because a lot of those movies are blockbusters blow. And definitely American History X, those two are massive, massive movies. Remember the Titans was definitely a big movie. I think more so in America though, because of the sort of American football sort of side of things.

1:34:10But The Wolf of Wall Street, are these movies just as fun as they look or is it a lot more serious? Yeah, they were all a lot. I mean, Wolf of Wall Street was a lot more fun because I was much smaller and more physically comfortable. But I enjoyed that. But I was still not comfortable with myself. You know, um, uh, when they were negotiating the movie, my agent said like, look, you have to sign a, there's a nudity clause. Everybody in the movie has to agree to nudity, total nudity. And I, and I was like, I was like, well, it's Martin Scorsese. So, okay. And they were like, you're not gonna wanna do that.

1:34:56you're gonna be upset if they ask you to take your clothes off and I was like I understand but if there's ever gonna be somebody who wants me to take my clothes off the only one who I I could rationalize it with is Martin Scorsese but then when it came down to it there were these orgies and they were like you have to take your clothes off and I and I suddenly panicked and was like I I can't fucking take my clothes off. I'm a mess. I've got all this skin. It's terrible. And I was able to convince Scorsese that it would be funnier in the orgies if I was, like, doing something else. I think we shot it three ways.

1:35:37I never saw it, so I don't know what they used. But one was, like, I'm reading, and there's this fucking orgy happening around me. And then another one was, um, I'm playing cards with a guy. me and him are just playing cards and there's an orgy happening. And the third way we shot it was I'm just reading, I'm sleeping or reading a book or something. How, how good as Scorsese, how good a director is he? He's fantastic, man. He just, he has a vision and he just, um, creates the perfect atmosphere to get exactly what he envisioned. How good is DiCaprio? Fantastic. Yeah. He's one of the greatest of all time, haven't he?

1:36:16Yeah, I think so. Every movie is kind of, he hits the target. He does, he hits the button. How was Jonah Hill? Great. He struggled with his weight as well. His weight goes up and down. Do you ever have conversations sort of about weight? Yeah, yeah, we've talked about it. We did another movie together after Wolf of Wall Street. I can't remember what it's called. How about that? Jonah Hill and James Franco. Anyway, I don't remember what it's called, but yeah, we've had lots of conversations about weight. Yeah. Would you ever play a part where you had to put on weight? Who was the actor member that played the whale?

1:36:54Yeah. Brendan Fraser. Yeah. How much weight did he put on? Do you know? I don't think he put on any, that was a fat suit. You're joking. Yeah. You never put on anything. I think he was pretty big. It was, yeah, he was pretty, he has put on weight. He had put on weight. Yeah. He didn't put on weight for that movie. Oh, did he not? Cause that's some great acting that you see a lot of actors who lose weight and you think, yep, fair play. Yeah. Would you ever go if someone says, listen, let's get you to three 50. No. And then we lose it through the movie. Would you ever chance that? And then we lose it through the movie.

1:37:24I don't know, man. No. Cause I think you could just put on a fat suit, you know, what do you need me to actually gain the weight for? You got CGI and AI now, you know, that's easier. Who's the greatest actor you have ever worked with? That I've ever worked with. Um, I don't know, probably Leo. What with Denzel? Denzel is up there. Yeah. And I did three movies with him. Good. What was the other movie you've done? I did, uh, remember the Titans, John Q, John Q and a movie called unstoppable. Oh, unstoppable. I was also playing a real guy. Yeah. Yeah. That was a true story. Yeah. Unstoppable. Is it pained?

1:38:06Chris Pine. Chris Pine. I went to cinema to see that. Yeah. It's a good movie. Yeah. Yeah. Tony Scott's last movie. Yeah, you've been in some great movies. Do you ever look at your career and go, do you know what, I've done okay? Are you always kind of a bad critic to yourself? No, man, I think I've had the greatest career ever. Like, I'm so happy with my career. I've been so lucky to have been in such, in so many cool movies. I'm really happy with my career. I've done five or six television series. Like, I've had a really nice career. And how's life now? Good. You look great, like your folds, your videos, you're looking strong, six pack, no loose skin, like everything.

1:38:44Well, I still have loose skin. Yeah, of course, but not as much. Not as much, yes. You know, like, do you still have old clothes? Have they burned them all? I have, um, some of my wardrobe from American History X and some of my wardrobe from Mallrats, which is wild to put it on. It's so big. It's fucking wild, dude. Do you still put them on? I did a couple years, excuse me, a couple years ago, I put on just the jacket from Mallrats and I just couldn't believe how big it was. It was like, um, you know, I mean, it was a jacket that just barely, or maybe even I couldn't get shut in the front during that movie.

1:39:27And it became like something that I tucked one end around my body this way and the other end around my body this way, I could have fit, easily fit two of myself in, which is wild. What's the best advice you have ever had? Somebody told me, um, for acting, I mean, this is just acting advice, show up on time and know your lines. I like that advice. Simple. Yeah. Yeah. Just do your fucking job. It's the same as get on a diet lesson, just eat less and train harder. Yeah. Yeah, but that, I think, I think the advice I like to give about dieting is that if we treat it like the condition is acute and that all we have to do is lose the weight and then the condition will no longer be there, that's a losing prospect.

1:40:17It's a chronic condition. If, if you've ever lost any weight and the weight has come back, it is a chronic condition and it is something you will have to manage. Did you ever get therapy? Did you ever try and get to the root of... No, but I... You would do that? Yes, I work on the root every day. I, I, I, this is something that I work on a lot, more than anything, more than thinking about types of food. The thing that's helped me is to look at the reason I'm eating. Am I eating because I'm hungry and I need food? And if so, what is a proper meal? Or am I eating because I'm anxious? Am I eating because I'm bored?

1:40:55Am I eating because I'm conditioned to eat in a movie theater. You know what I mean? Like I, so many times I sit and eat popcorn in a movie theater. So I'm just used to watching a movie and feeding myself, but am I hungry? Do I need food? These are different things. What are you eating now? How's your sort of food preps now? It's I eat mostly, um, foods with one ingredient for the most part. So beef, broccoli, rice, you know. Um, but not entirely. Uh, but that's, that's mostly what I eat. And when I don't eat something with one ingredient, I have to really think like, what is the purpose of this food?

1:41:40Am I just trying to make myself happier or am I hungry? Did you ever do the carnivore? I never did total carnivore because that kind of came out after I had figured out something that was going to work long term for me. But I did keto for a long time and I could lose a little weight on keto, but it never got me down to where I wanted it to get me. But you must have been fucking flying when you were cycling for hours and hours to sit on a bike and not worry that you're going to puncture the tires. You know? Yeah. Cycling's tough on your ass as it is anyway. And your balls. Yeah. never mind carrying an extra bit of weight, but it's unbelievable.

1:42:19That's some accomplishment. Yeah. Like nearly 300 pounds. Like that is over 300 pounds. Like that is unbelievable. Yeah. Like it is madness. That is some weight shift. That's a hell of a lot of weight. You know, did anybody ever balance it out? Because when you look at, when it shows you like 10 pounds of fat and 10 pounds of muscle, the muscle's so small, but the fat is massive. Yeah. Like to have lost that, like i think what i'm 105 kilos now but i should be like basically 82 83 so that extra 20 kilos you do feel it it's a lot you know yeah never mind fucking i mean he i think about it this way you know i'll do a uh i can do a 315 pound deadlift it's not that hard but i can't spend my day walking around carrying that you know what i mean like that's a fucking shitload of weight you imagine wearing a vest with 300 pounds on it.

1:43:17You're not going to get very far. How was Mr. Woodcock? Fun. Fun movie. Yeah. Yeah, was it? I never saw it, so I don't know how it turned out. Yeah, he's funny him, Billy Bob. Yeah. He was bad Santa, wasn't he? Yeah. I think he was married to Angelina. Jolie. Jolie. Who was the other kid, the guy from American Pie? Yeah, Sean William Scott. He's great. Is he funny? Yeah. You seem to enjoy comedies though. You've been in a few. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. I like comedies a lot. Um, but I think I like dramas more. The heavy stuff. Yeah. For anybody that's maybe watching, that's maybe struggling right now with that eating, what's the best advice you have for them?

1:43:57Um, that success won't come when you lose the weight because it, it is a recurring and remitting and recurring or relapsing condition, um, that you have to think about it that way or the way it's just coming back. And, and any of the interventions we have now, you know, there's all these diet drugs and, and any of the diets, these are tools that can be helpful, but all of them require more work than just, I'm on keto or I'm on Ozempic. I think we will start to see that people need more than just that single intervention. What makes a good actor? Somebody who can believe their lies. Yeah. Simple as that.

1:44:51Simple as that. Who's your favorite actor? Who would you like to work with? Uh, well, he keeps retiring, but I think Daniel Day-Lewis is the greatest of all time. Three Oscars. Yeah. Method acting. Yeah. Was it Lincoln? Lincoln. Played the part, but then again, Gangs of New York was a great movie. Fucking great movie. Fucking unbelievable. Yeah. That movie. Yeah. Like he is a phenomenal actor, but do you think you completely can go insane when you try to become someone else? Because did you ever watch the documentary Man on the Moon, Jim Carrey, when he played Andy Hoffman? He went a little nutty.

1:45:25Yeah, he was Andy Hoffman, but they were ready to kick him off set, because they thought he was too much. Like, he went crazy. Yeah, and I've worked with people before. I don't think I, um, necessarily respect you, because you're doing The Method, but Daniel Day-Lewis is just so good. Um, but I've worked with people doing The Method, and I thought, you suck, this is making money better. Yeah, do you think people try and be Daniel Day-Lewis, as if it's some sort of special thing to be kept in character, when the character's not that deep to really do so. I think so. And I've seen people rationalize bad behavior by going, well, a method, this is how my character is going to behave.

1:46:06So I'm just going to behave this way. And to me, that's boring. Yeah. It's all in service to the character, like truly, then fair enough. If it's improving you, but if you're not getting any better because of it, then it's just a waste of time. Do you have any regrets? I have one regret. I was offered a role in a movie called, um, Good Time that the Safdie brothers directed. I fucking wish I had done it. I was just lazy. Said, no, I didn't want to come to New York to work. That's my one regret. That's not too bad. It's pretty fucking bad. How well did that do? It's just an awesome movie. I don't know.

1:46:51It's probably not a box office success, But these are like, my favorite movies weren't, you know? My favorite working experiences weren't. My favorite job is this television show Chance. Nobody watched it, but it was my favorite job. Why is that? Because of the environment? And the character was just a lot of fun to do. Yeah. But you've had a phenomenal career, a phenomenal life, what you've achieved. Listen, proud of you. Not overcoming the weight loss, but the drug addiction. Yeah. And doing amazing, being a better father, better friend, better actor everything becomes better when you do better yeah it is painful sometimes and it's easy to go down that other route sometimes i think that's why i travel myself so i can eat what i want when i want sure you know like like i say i'm not fat i'm not a beast i just know i could be better right you know and i feel uncomfortable when you start wearing the baggy clothes and you have to move positions when you're sleeping and sitting but listen i'm not checking chairs to see if they're going to cracks you know what i'm saying but i still do do you feel as if you've been on a diet your whole life i have to some degree and then there were brief periods where i wasn't and i got really really heavy but for for most of my life i've been on a diet and you know again this is something i'm not getting rid of i'm not going to get rid of my compulsions but i can manage them and i've learned how to manage them um that's that point of view has helped me enormously do you I think it makes you a better actor going through all the misery and the pain.

1:48:24Maybe. I mean, it's just to have a lot of emotional garbage to draw from, right? I've never met an actor that's sane. Yeah. I don't think I have either. They mostly are crazy. Oh, fucking nuts. Oh, drug addicts. And you remember, he was a great actor back in the day, but he's fucked his face up now. He's actually a good guy. Um, he was in the, um, the wrestler. Oh yeah. Yeah. Um, yeah. Is that his name? Man. Yeah, I know you're talking about, you go back to movies like Angel Heart. Yeah. Fuck, he was great. Yeah. What is his name? He's a very, very famous actor. Oh, shit. Yeah, he'd done The Wrestler.

1:49:03I think he got an Oscar for The Wrestler. His career kind of went so around to drugs and started getting facelifts and all the other shit with his face. Mickey Rourke. Mickey Rourke. Yeah. Great actor back in the day. I think he played a part for a few minutes. I think he was nominated for an Oscar or he played a part five minutes, but it... Ended up a great movie, but yeah, listen, it's, there's many actors. I think that's why I probably enjoy acting because it takes me away from the character, who they really are. Maybe I should take up acting, brother. It's the greatest therapy ever. You get to be somebody else.

1:49:35Yeah, it goes shut. Plans for the future? Uh, I do, uh, a weekly live zoom every Monday at 7 p.m. Eastern time. And all we do is talk about diet and weight loss and what's new and how people are struggling. And anybody can come on there and talk to me if they want. It's called Lifelong. And I have a horror movie coming out in March called Dolly. And I play a real scary guy, which was fun. And I have two other movies coming out, but they're still being edited. And I have no idea when they'll come out. When this goes out, you'll probably be wanting people wanting to ask you a lot of questions about drug abuse and overeating.

1:50:14How can people contact you? What's your social medias? Ethan Suplee on Instagram. One of my kids made me a TikTok account.

1:50:46and structured reports. Get started at chatgpt.com by selecting work mode available on plus and pro plans. And then she shoots videos of me and posts them. I don't know how to fucking use TikTok. I'm way too old for TikTok, but there is an Ethan simply TikTok too. I don't know about that. You're never going to get ahold of me through that. Um, and, uh, lifelong it's a YouTube show on Mondays. And anybody has a question about addiction or food addiction, come talk to me there. For anybody watching or listening that's maybe struggling with drug addiction, what advice would you have for them? Um, again, I think with drug addiction, it's getting deeper than the physical addiction itself.

1:51:33Like, yeah, that needs to be dealt with, but what are the reasons that you're, you're gravitating, gravitating towards drugs in the first place. And if you don't really look at that, then I think long-term success is going to be impossible. My brother, listen, for coming on today, I've told you your story. I thoroughly enjoyed that. A great conversation. I think you're a great actor. Everything you've done is amazing so far. I'm proud of you. And I actually look forward to seeing what you do for the future, brother. Make up the good work. Thank you. God bless. Yeah. and I 55 55 56 57