Louie From Remember The Titans Is Unrecognizably Gorgeous Now

Ethan Suplee has been acting since he was a kid, originally landing a role on Boy Meets World back in 1994, before translating that success into several scene stealing roles in films such as Kevin Smith's Mallrats and American History X. And he also landed a high profile TV gig, playing alongside Jason Lee on My Name is Earl. But Suplee's fluctuating weight defined many of his earlier roles, especially in 2000's Remember the Titans, where he was at his heaviest playing offensive lineman Louie Lastik. On his podcast, American Glutton, Suplee revealed that he began having a difficult relationship with food when he was 5. When he was 10, Suplee weighed over 200 pounds. His father briefly put him on a strict diet, but although he stopped the diet shortly after, the negative psychological effects stuck with him. This led to years of binge-eating in secret, away from judgmental eyes, spurring massive weight gain. Suplee told People that when he began acting at 16 years old, every part the teenager was being offered was exclusively "roles for fat kids," which he found discouraging. Suplee began landing roles based on his talent, but even then, he ran into trouble. Once he got cast, producers often wanted to capitalize on his size. Eventually, Suplee decided to lose weight, and between 2002 and 2005, he dropped from 530 pounds down to around 290, losing over 240 pounds in the process. 2005 also saw the debut of My Name is Earl; it was a hit, but over the course of the show, Suplee began putting on weight again. So when it ended, he decided to lose weight once more — and boy, did he ever. He became obsessed with cycling, riding hundreds of miles each week, and eventually got thin — too thin for Hollywood. Suplee began losing roles because producers found him unrecognizably skinny. And Suplee himself didn't feel great. It was his role on Chance, opposite Hugh Laurie, that eventually got him where he is now. Producers originally thought he was too small for the role. But this time, as he put on weight, he changed his diet and began getting into weight lifting, so that weight was muscle instead of fat. Suplee says he now treats his body as a, quote, "science project," as he works to maintain no more than 10 percent body fat while packing on muscles. He told People that over the last 20 years, he estimates he's gained and lost around a thousand pounds. But now, he says he'd rather quit acting than go back to being unhealthy. Keep watching to see Louie From Remember The Titans Is Unrecognizably Gorgeous Now. #EthanSuplee