John Goodman admitted that “alcoholic eating” caused him to weigh nearly 400 pounds when he stopped drinking.
The actor told The New Yorker in an interview published Sunday that he began his weight loss journey before getting sober in 2007, at the age of 55.
“I was losing 60 pounds in one summer, gaining it all back — 70 pounds, 80 pounds — and it was getting tiring,” said Goodman, now 74. “I took steps to stop having to do that. I weighed almost 400 pounds. I was eating alcohol after I stopped drinking.”
He told the outlet that he decided to get sober because he was “really immature” and that drinking only “maintained that immaturity,” adding, “I wanted to live in ‘Animal House’ all the time.”
“I got tired of being sick and tired,” Goodman added. “The problem with instant gratification is that you don’t really care about what’s going to happen right after – which always leads to bigger hangovers or shakes and having to drink to get rid of it, and this vicious cycle.
“When I quit, I was in a position where I had to be hospitalized one way or another. I was just fed up and wanted to quit,” he continued. “I was stunting my maturation by drinking, and I had a lot of catching up to do, realizing how selfish it made me.”
The “Roseanne” alum said he had “neglected real life,” adding that it was “great to see that there was a life where (he) didn’t have to use anything to enjoy it.”
Goodman underwent stomach surgery to address his weight gain after giving up alcohol, but the procedure led to other health problems.
“I also became anemic and lost a layer of fat under my skin, and I feel cold all the time,” he said.
The “Big Lebowski” actor has since lost 200 pounds and recently showed off his slimmer figure at the “Digger” premiere in Los Angeles.
He posed solo on the red carpet and alongside his wife, Anna Beth, wearing a black suit, striped button-down shirt and gray tie.
Goodman had fans doing a double-take in August, with social media users calling him “unrecognizable” in the comments of a selfie shared on Instagram by “Wizards of Waverly Place” star David DeLuise.
In 2025, he turned heads with his dramatic weight loss on the red carpet at the Los Angeles premiere of “The Smurfs,” smiling for photographers in a navy suit, white collared shirt, patterned black tie and brown loafers.
The “Monsters, Inc.” star previously detailed his weight loss journey, revealing that he hired a personal trainer, cut out sugar from his diet and started exercising six days a week.
“I know it sounds shabby, but it was a waste,” Goodman told People in 2010 of his couch potato days. “It takes a lot of creative energy to sit on your butt and figure out what you’re going to eat next…I wanted to live better.”
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