Seth Rogan Admits He "Sold Out" By Losing Weight
So my feelings about celebrities who lose weight are well documented and I believe could be summed up as “conflicted.” Seth Rogan totally gets it, though.
Actor Seth Rogen is struggling to accept his newly svelte figure – because he’s let down the legions of chubby men who looked up to him. The funnyman slimmed down to star in forthcoming comic book move The Green Hornet, and has to cope with strangers approaching him about his weight loss…
“I think for chubby guys, I was their guy so they were like, ‘I can be chubby. Seth Rogen’s chubby, so who cares.’ But now I’m not so chubby anymore. So now they’re like, ‘I have to lose weight.’ I’ve let them down. I’ve blatantly sold out. It’s only for money.”
I’ve talked a lot about female “fat icons,” but this did make me think about the guys, and who it is they look up to. We’ve got Beth Ditto and Queen Latifah and Nikki Blonsky; who are the fat icons for guys? Do guys even see it that way?
I don’t feel betrayed by Seth Rogan losing weight, really; number one he was never an icon for me, and number two it is “okay” for guys to be overweight, especially comedians (Jack Black, Ricky Gervais, Jim Belushi…) in a way that it is definitely not okay for women. What do you guys think—about Seth, about “selling out,” or about the size of male celebrities?
Posted by mo pie
Filed under: Beth Ditto, Celebrities, Cold Hard Cash, Comics, Feminism, Gossip, Movies, Nikki Blonsky, Queen Latifah, Ricky Gervais, Seth Rogan, Weight Loss
I have had a huge thing for seth rogan since i saw the 40 year old virgin, and I have to say that now that he’s slimmed down, I don’t think he’s as attractive to me. he’s still cute, just not the same. I think it’s a good thing he’s acknowledged what he did, he blatantly said ‘it’s for money’ and i respect that, although for my personal fantasies I wish he’d chub up again, but that’s just selfish:)
Maybe he’ll get chubby once the movies over. Actors chub up for roles and then slim down afterwards, maybe he’ll just do it in reverse. I don’t really think he sold out so to speak, it’s just his job.
I love him either way. He’s just cuter chubbier, like a teddy…..good lord I wish I had a Teddy Rogspin.
I’ve been a big fan of his for awhile now, but I love him even more now for admitting that. And I agree with Emily, I found him cuter when he was chubbier.
I am also attracted to chubby guys, so I thought he was cute before. But I think he still is.
I agree, though, it’s not seen as quite as big a deal for guys to be a little pudgy. Of course they have their own weight problems, too, but they can “get away with” more weight than women can before they experience the same problems.
There was that NY Times article last year about it, it said something to the effect of, men can be 60-some pounds over what is “ideal” before they see discrimination, women only have to be 15 or 20 over to see the same thing. I may not have that 100% correct, but I know it’s something like that.
I TOTALLY respect him for saying this!
BUT, let’s look at it this way: Seth Rogan was in “Knocked Up” with Katherine Heigle (sp?), A cute, chubby guy with a tall, svelte, blue-eyed blond (the Hollywood “ideal.”) If the characters had been reversed (say, Nikki Blonski and Brad Pitt), the movie NEVER would have been made.
Jack Black played Kate Winslet’s love interest. I LOVE Jack Black, but, again, if the situation had been reversed, no movie.
The whole time I lived in L.A (nine looooong years!) I was constantly told to lose more and more weight, whereas a male friend of mine, who had lost weight from training for the AIDS ride, was told to gain it back.
This is an industry that would rather hire a slim actor and have them gain weight for a role rather than hire an already zaftig actor (which is exactly what happened with a young actress in “Spanglish.”)
When’s he going to apologize for not being funny? ZING! ha HA!
I think saying “guys don’t have it as rough” is true enough to be misleading. There are pressures there, but they show up very differently than the media-fixation women have to deal with. It’s not better/worse, just different.
For chubby/obese guys who’ve been picked on all their life, there aren’t really many guys to look up to; you have the Uber Stocky Successful guys on one side (just the “grown up” versions of high school jocks) Or feel forced to become a caricature of yourself, aka John Candy or Chris Farley. And because there’s so much emphasis on women in weight loss, there’s no one really speaking for you there, either.
Being ignored’s a different sensation than the outright scorn women deal with, granted, but neither are particularly healthy.
About the actor in particular, it gives me just as much pause that Seth would apologize for losing weight as he would doing it for cash.
I’ve dropped 243 pounds (no surgery, and while working as a food writer. The absurdity of my life right there), and ironically that didn’t happen until I dismissed my own fat-hate and I could just choose how I wanted things to go.
Weight loss doesn’t have to be about fat-hate; I think *everyone* would be better off if the moralism surrounding fat/obesity/weight loss went away.
Y’all have a great site. Thanks for such a thought-provoking post!
H’m.
Is it selling out, any more than Robert de Niro gaining a gazillion pounds to play Rocky Marciano in Raging Bull was selling out? Green Hornet isn’t chubby, so if you’re going to play him you need to be buff.
That said, my favorite comment ever on Hollywood’s differing perceptions of male and female body types was made by Margaret Cho when she talked about how the network execs told her to lose weight or they’d cancel her show, because “people don’t like watching chunky people on TV.” She didn’t lose “enough” weight, so they canceled her show and replaced it with “The Drew Carey Show.” Apparently, people changed their minds about chunky overnight!
Never been really a fan of Seth Rogen, but I’m not surprised he lost weight. I think it was going to happen sooner or later, whether it was for money or because he jumped on the bandwagon of fat = unhealthy.
I think right now, the only true mainstream obese actor for fat guys to look up to is Jorge Garcia. The fact that the creators of “Lost” actually said that to have Hurley lose weight while being on the island wasn’t realistic was very refreshing to read. It also helps that Jorge seems to be a witty and charming guy in real life if you read his blog and shatters a lot of fat stereotypes.
And while fat men do have their own pressures, thanks to the ever growing obesity pandemic, women still get the the majority of the hostility regarding their weight. Because for us, it’s not only about “our health,” it’s also about our looks and conforming to a ridiculous ideal of beauty.
He only sold out if he doesn’t return to his pre- Green Hornet size after filming. There are plenty of serious male actors who are larger in size and have slimmed down for roles (Philip Seymour Hoffman in Capote for one) only to regain their orignally weight back.
To me, if Seth stays slim and markets himself in Hollywood in this new size and obtains roles he otherwise wouldn’t as a larger man, than he’s a sell out.
Either way, it’s not as big of an issue for men as it is for women. Period.
i have nothing witty to say, but i am sad that he doesn’t look like the seth rogan i have loved in “freaks n geeks” and in “undeclared”, etc. that said, he doesn’t belong to me (much as that also makes me sad :D ) and he is not his weight. i was also sad when janeane garofalo lost weight, but she still had her acerbic humor that made me love her performances in the first place. sure i couldn’t put myself in her shoes (and fantacise “hey that could be me!”) as much now that she was smaller…
I have a problem with anyone, male or female, obligated to be a certain size to make people happy. It blows that there is such an imbalance when it comes to size and gender in Hollywood, but Seth Rogan doesn’t owe it to anyone to stay chubby if he wants to lose weight, just as Jessica Simpson doesn’t need to stay perfectly toned if she wants to take a break from her exercise regime (no matter what the idiot tabloids say). Your body is your body, no one else’s, and it makes me sad that people want to lay claim to others’ because they are celebrities.
I never saw Seth Rogen as being oppressed by fatism. To me he’s like the new Woody Allen, consistently paired up in films with women who are way out of his league or at least more compliant with the crazy Hollywood norms of appearance. [Hmmm, that could be a band: The Norms of Appearance.]
Anyway, he didn’t have to be svelte to be successful, so I’m inclined to see his slimming down to play a buff superhero as nothing more than a personal choice on his part. Maybe by selling out he just means he’s leaving his quirky slacker roles behind to play a (yawn) superhero. In a way, it’s kind of insulting for him to imply that every actress who’s ever struggled to keep her weight down in order to keep working is a sellout.
The behind-the-scenes extras on the Pineapple Express DVD include a whole segment on the producers’ attempts to get Rogan physically fit enough to perform the intense stunt work in the movie — without him exercising to the extent that he lost ANY weight. The goal was for him to “stay chubby” while becoming stronger and less prone to injury. You should check it out.
I’m in the crowd that misses the old Seth Rogan. I’ve loved him since Freaks & Geeks and now I hardly recognize him.
As far as men losing weight, in general, the pressure exists but as someone pointed out in another comment, fat guys + thin women = plausible and fat women + thin men = not plausible.
I’m rambling. Argh. Brain is fried. My friend’s husband feels a lot of societal pressure to lose weight, and I have a former coworker who has recently lost a scary amount of weight and is unrecognizable. And one of my best guy friends is a calorie obsessive freak who runs like 10 miles a day and gets really down on himself if he goes over his calorie limit/doesn’t run as far.
Bah.
It’s interesting to me that he sees things this way since, honestly, he didn’t need to lose weight to be successful. He was already successful, far more so than any women of equivalent body shape other than maybe Queen Latifah. Yay Hollywood double standards.
It’s interesting to me given how aware people on this blog usually are of this that no one seems to have mentioned the fact that Rogan probably won’t be ABLE to maintain his lower weight for very long. Set point and all, you know? He’d have to maintain a pretty strict diet and exercise regime not to gain the weight back, and I’m not convinced that the rewards for men for being slimmer in Hollywood are strong enough to motivate most male actors to do that.
Did anyone see that article a few months back about Kevin Smith deciding to lose weight because he broke a toilet? Now that’s pressure :)
*Sigh*
I would heart Seth Rogan if he was dressed up as a terducken wrapped in veal and I’m a vegetarian.
I agree that fat men have an easier time getting roles period than fat women. But there’s fat men get typed cast just as easily. If you look at Rogan’s roles in every movie he’s made- with the exception of Superbad- he’s a lovable loser. Same with John Candy et al. The only reason why Woody Allen ever acted was because he WROTE and DIRECTED the movies otherwise he would have never been on the screen.
Fat activism is something that is supposed to be empowering. My fat life isn’t going to be better or worse if someone chooses their own direction for themselves. If you’re getting pigeonholed in your occupation and losing weight is the thing that will set your career on fire I’m not sure if that’s really selling out or just living out your dreams.
However, I suspect that Rogan will find that even as a thin guy he’s still not going to be good enough for Hollywood.
I don’t care if Kevin Smith is losing weight. I just want to know if he’s ever going to ditch the schmaltz and pseudo-intellectual banter.
I would also agree that it’s not really selling out. If it were a woman, who would question it? Did anyone give Rikki Lake or Carnie Wilson a hard time for losing weight? And yeah, if he’s playing the part of a superhero then he kind of needs to fit the part. And if he doesn’t gain the weight back after, who cares? It’s his body, his life. If he finds himself happy at the lower weight and keeps up with whatever it took to get him there then that is completely his choice.
A long time ago, Jon Favreau mentioned in his IFC series, Dinner for Five, that after he made Rudy, someone (I cannot remember who) advised him to lose weight, or he’d be stuck playing the “fat best friend” or “the bouncer” for the rest of his life and would never play lead in a movie.
You know, I hadn’t seen any pictures of Seth in a while, so I googled him with on Google Toolbar and when I typed in “seth r”, the fourth or fifth suggestion was “seth rogen weight loss” — just like when you google Queen Latifah. I didn’t realize that this was such a hot topic.
I’m biased, because I do like Seth Rogen, and I have to agree that he looked better pre-weight loss. But my feeling is, as long as he is aware of the way this might impact his fan base and work options, and he’s not going to start promoting some kind of wacked out diet, it’s his body and it’s his business.
I feel like fat males get made fun of – though I’m not sure about how much pressure they feel to get to a certain size. Magazines catered to the heterosexual male often have headlines on the covers like “Flab To Fit: You Guide To Becom9ing RIPPED!” and “The Only Sex Guide You’ll Ever Need!” among other things. Some men feel more pressure to be of a lower weight, especially if their career calls for it, like being a horse jockey.
I never really noticed that he lost weight. I guess it doesn’t really phase me anymore if an actor loses or gains weight for a role (unless it is incredibly extreme). They are getting into character.
For some reason there seems to be a bigger brouha when a woman does it. I have to admit that i probably make a bigger brouha over a woman doing it too. Because its usually to lose rather than to gain.
While I don’t think that chubby guys face as much outward discrimination as adults, I think that they do have self-esteem issues based on their self-comparison to other guys and to media images. And “the fat kid” in elementary, middle and even high school is very often a male. It’s popular to make fun of fat boys, they have to face that every day growing up. As adults perhaps that dissipates some.
Most of the bigger celeb guys I’ve seen express disbelief and shock far beyond the self-deprecating gestures or expressions of humility that slimmer, buffer guys do when faced with the idea that people find them attractive: Seth Rogen, for example, said “some people are into weird shit” when presented with the idea that some girls preferred him over Brad Pitt — almost as if it was a fetish to like him — and non-skinny musicians like Patrick Stump of Fall Out Boy have said the same kind of things, expressing disbelief that anyone with any sense could find them attractive when they are completely good looking guys.
Guys have been tested to see a drop in their self-esteem after looking at skinny girls in magazines, the same way that girls do; a lot of their self-perception is based on attaining relationships with girls (or guys, I suppose!). Which is a problem in and of itself but it is the way they’re socialized.
I think the issue with bigger guys is that Western society tolerates them better because it’s by nature misogynistic. Women have higher expectations of themselves and each other — a MAJOR part of the problem — and to a lesser degree, so do men.
I think that Rogan is at a point in his career that everyone reaches in some way sooner or later, the one where you either compromise to get ahead, or you don’t. He compromised and now he’s living with the consequences. I think he’s also confronting what it is to be a thinner person; having lost a lot of weight and then gained it back there’s a silent expectation that you magically be normal that doesn’t happen because fat people are often socialized differently, and Rogan’s smart enough to recognize that happening to himself.
Ah I have a lot of complex thoughts about this. I guess I’ll have to write my own post.
I also have liked Seth Rogen since Freaks & Geeks. I remember going to see Knocked Up and there’s a scene where he’s naked lying on his stomach in bed. Some folks in the audience went, “eww,” and I thought, “my boyfriend’s butt looks like that.” Nothing wrong with it, but it wasn’t the sort of man-butt you normally would see in a sexy scene.
Mind you, there’s a segment of straight guys who think that looking at man-butt without protest might turn them gay, so maybe that’s all it was.
I didn’t think that Seth and Katherine were a mismatch in “Knocked Up” because of his weight. I thought they were a mismatch because she had a job and was ambitious and he was an umemployed, pothead loser!
Men lack fat show-business role models? Um, what about John Candy, Orson Welles, Marlon Brando, W C Fields, Luciano Pavorotti, John Goodman, Sinbad, Lou Costello, John Belushi, Cedric
You know, I was happy when I saw that Seth had slimmed down, not because I don’t think he’s cute when he’s chubby (a la Knocked Up) but because he seemed to keep getting heavier, and I hoped this would be better for his health. However, he was quoted as saying that he neither cares how he looks nor how he feels physically and that his weight loss was just for an upcoming movie. So, I hope he puts a few back on for the Teddy-factor but also that he stays healthy so that we can all enjoy him for a long time to come.
Watch SNL tonight! He’s hosting :D
P.S. I agree that it is ridiculous and unfair that women, especially female actors, should be held to a nearly impossible standard of thinness and “perfect beauty” that is only attainable for most through self-starvation and/or plastic surgery. I thank God that Kate Winslet has said that she does NOT limit what she eats. Kate is slender but healthy and looks like a real person. She is a role model for women who have struggled with letting go of a negative self/body image.
Wow, there’s TONs of fat icons for guys. None for chicks.
I think Seth rocks. I’m glad he lost his weight; this is coming from an overweight guy. Extra pounds are one of the things driving up our national health care costs. I’m currently losing mine and I think he is a little bit of an inspiration, even though he wasn’t that much overweight, just chunky. His humor won’t change; give me a break.
WOW, alot of people respect and admire the fact that he let down his loyal fan base of chubby stoners, not to mention, basically saying, “Fuck ’em” afterwards, for a few measly bucks.
Um, does nobody realize that all Seth’s weight loss is due to his raging coke habit? Not so healthy after all, now, is it…
I do sort of think its a bit of a sell out, but its different for guys especially in Hollywood.
I think its WAY more upsetting that he made a film in which date rape is justified than its upsetting that he’s lost weight. While I do prefer the chubbier Seth and have been a fan since Freaks and Geeks, his simultaneous weight loss and the release of this awful film:
http://www.salon.com/mwt/broadsheet/feature/2009/04/09/rogen_date_rape/
have made me become a FORMER fan.
i think he looks good. i just saw pics of premiere for FUNNY PEOPLE and almost died when i saw him.
he really looks good. also, it is good for his health. now he can be funny and sexy
I too, was also a large fan of Seth Rogen from the moment I saw him on 40-year-old virgin as well. And I thought everyone would think I was crazy for thinking this chubby guy was actually hot.
But to my surprise I wasn’t alone, a lot of girls find his chubbiness, to be attractive as well. And it kinda became his thing to be the “Chubby-cute guy” and he not only let-down a lot of chubby guys, but a lot of girls who found him quite hot as he was previously.
In my opinion, he will end up losing money by getting rid of his image. Directors, and writors saught out him to play that roll in plenty of movies. (Explaining the sudden proliferation in Rogen movies — Where he will normally play some lovable chubby guy.) Now that he’s lost that, I’m not sure if he will be that well-saught actor as he was. Because there’s plenty of average funny guys out there to play those rolls, but Seth was uniqe in the fact that he was quite handsom even as that chubby guy.
In no way, do I think my opinions should indict how he should live his life. If he’s happy with the way he looks now, more power to him. It’s his life, and no one should tell him how to live it.
How do we know he’s taking care of himself? All we know is that he’s lost weight; I haven’t heard how he did it. And there’s no reason to be mad at someone who takes care of themselves, but fat people who take care of themselves run into this sort of treatment frequently.
John Belushi. You meant John Belushi.
No, I meant Jim Belushi… from According to Jim.
Pingback: Seth Rogen Slims Down, Angers Some
I dont think that’s true about it being okay for guys to be chubby but not girls. Most people don’t find obesity attractive, whether it’s a guy or a girl. It’s not usually seen as very sexy.
I always thought he was very good looking and attractive. Just because he lost lots of weight does not always change a person for the worst. He has lots of talent and he can play any role and still be good at what he does best. He made a comment that he thought his girlfriend was to pretty for him and he was luck . She is the luck one in my book.
Don’t know if I would say that Seth has sold out. Many actors and actresses go up or down in size for their movie roles.
Although I do think he was better being larger. But may be that’s because, that is what we are used to.