While some actors take the method acting route and gain drastic amounts of weight for a part,
others rely on prosthetics to get the look they're going for.
Fat suits are a relatively quick and easy way for actors to transform their bodies for
a part that would otherwise require them to pack on the pounds.
While some fat suits are easy to spot, others are pretty surprising.
For example...
Matthew Lewis
In 2015, Matthew Lewis blew everyone away when he posed for Attitude in pretty much
nothing but his underwear.
Most fans only knew Lewis from his Harry Potter days, when he played the chubby, quirky Gryffindor
member Neville Longbottom, so his washboard abs threw everyone off their game.
During the interview with Attitude, Lewis dropped a bombshell, saying, quote, "I was
excited I guess to go on the red carpet on the release of the last film and be me, and
not to have to have the fat suit under my t-shirt."
That's right: turns out Lewis wasn't actually as pudgy in the later years as the fictional
wizard he portrayed.
Lewis revealed during a 2017 Harry Potter panel that the fat suit actually messed with
his self-esteem, saying, quote, "Being 15 years old in the middle of puberty, having
to wear a fat suit.
There's girls around.
I've got this fat suit on every day.
No one knows I'm wearing this damn thing, they all just think I'm fat."
Trust us, Matthew: everyone knows the truth now.
Steven Schirripa
Sopranos actor Steven Schirripa is definitely not a small guy, but producers actually made
him don a fat suit during the first two seasons as Bobby "Bacala" Baccalieri so he would be
bigger than Tony, his frequent tormentor ...
"I think it's time for you to start to seriously consider salads."
"What do you mean?"
"What do I mean?
I mean get off my car before you flip it over, you fat f---."
Why only the first two seasons, you ask?
Schirripa says, quote, "I guess they thought I got fat enough on my own and I didn't wear
it anymore."
Chrissy Metz
Best known for her role as Kate, a woman who struggles with her weight in NBC's hit drama
This Is Us, actress Chrissy Metz is indeed a big woman — but American Horror Story
producers still put her in a fat suit for her role as The Fat Lady on Freak Show.
"They called it 'The Couch,' like that's what we ended up calling it on the, the shoot,
was, 'Oh, here's Chrissy's couch,' because it's basically couch cushions."
According to People, the fat suit was "sobering" for Metz, who told the magazine that the extra
weight isn't something she wants for her future.
Chris Sullivan
While Metz's This Is Us character's weight struggle is real, in January 2017, many viewers
were shocked to learn that her also-overweight love interest in the show, played by Chris
Sullivan, actually wore a fat suit on set.
Fans questioned the fairness of his fat suit when Metz revealed that in contrast, her contract
required that she "lose the weight in the trajectory of the character."
However, Metz doesn't seem bothered by Sullivan's fat suit.
On an episode of What Happens Live With Andy Cohen, Metz said that Sullivan was simply
the right choice, suit or no suit:
"Chris has been heavier, and I think he does understand the plight of being overweight.
And also he was the best man for the job."
Ryan Reynolds
In real life, actor Ryan Reynolds is so in shape it's almost unfair.
Remember that scene in The Proposal where he undressed on the balcony?
Which is why Just Friends director Roger Kumble decided to take Reynolds' role as the young
Chris Brander a step further by adding a giant fat suit to the mix.
Kumble said, quote, "We have to humiliate him at the beginning to understand his pain
and his journey."
And while wearing a fat suit doesn't affect the body as much as gaining and losing that
extra weight would, it still wasn't easy according to Reynolds, who says he still had to spend
four hours every morning in the makeup chair.
Courteney Cox
In the classic '90s sitcom Friends, Courteney Cox plays the very organized and very thin
Monica Geller.
However, true fans know that Monica was overweight during high school, which led to the running
"Fat Monica" joke.
Cox says playing "Fat Monica" under a fat suit was "freeing" and her favorite part of
playing the role, saying, quote, "I could do anything because I was hidden under all
that prosthetic makeup."
Mike Myers
Because Austin Powers star Mike Myers had to transform his appearance to play multiple
roles, he's no stranger to prosthetics and makeup.
One of those roles, the wildly overweight Fat Bastard, obviously required a giant fat
suit.
His motivation for the character?
"I wanted to have a character who was fat, who was the incorrect weight for his height,
and was born out of wedlock."
Gwyneth Paltrow
Actress and kooky new-age lifestyle guru Gwyneth Paltrow built a whole lifestyle brand around
healthy food and fitness, and she herself is so thin she likely disappears when she
turns to the side.
But in order to play Rosemary alongside Jack Black in Shallow Hal back in 2001, Paltrow
had to wear a 25-pound fat suit.
Paltrow told ABC News, quote, "No one would make eye contact with me because I was obese.
The clothes they make for women that are overweight are horrible.
I felt humiliated because people were really dismissive."
To test the suit, the make-up artists had Paltrow go to a bar in L.A. and order a drink.
No one noticed her, so they knew it was a success.
"We're gonna get crazy now."
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