Celebrities are often frozen in our minds. That means we always think of them as how they looked in their most iconic roles.
However, many celebrities dramatically change their appearance over time. Sometimes, that’s a bad thing (hello, plastic surgery). Other times, it’s a wholesome success story!
Here are a few of our favorite stories about celebrities who have lost a dramatic amount of weight in the quest to be happier and healthier.
Chris Pratt
While he was never super-large, Chris Pratt was mostly known for playing the schlubby character Andy Dwyer on Parks and Recreation. And this teddy bear of a character made for an everyman most of us could relate to.
However, to prepare for Guardians of the Galaxy, Chris Pratt didn’t just lose 60 pounds. He became absolutely ripped! And just like that, he had a body ready for countless action movies.
Kirstie Alley
Kirstie Alley’s weight has actually flip-flopped a bit over the years. She was known for being very lean in iconic TV shows like Cheers and films like Look Who’s Talking. Later, she put on a bunch of weight and starred in a reality show she created for Showtime called Fat Actress in 2005.
But between becoming a spokeswoman for Jenny Craig and dancing her butt off on Dancing With the Stars in 2011, Alley lost a whopping 50 pounds. Retro is certainly in fashion, as Alley has brought her 1980s body back to life!
Christina Aguilera
Known for her tiny figure, Christina Aguilera emerged on the pop scene in 1999 as a teenager singing hits like “Genie in a Bottle” and “What a Girl Wants.” However, by the age of 29, Aguilera had noticeably put on some weight. She has admitted being an emotional eater — and 2010 was an emotional year for her. She suffered in both her personal and professional lives, with a divorce and disappointing responses to her Bionic album and first starring role in a movie, Burlesque.
After struggling with her weight for years, Christina Aguilera decided to take control of her life by throwing out all her unhealthy eating habits and eating nothing but balanced, healthy meals. It certainly worked: she has dropped nearly 50 pounds and is looking better than ever!
Russell Crowe
Russell Crowe sometimes gets haters who mock his weight gains. However, most of these gains are for various film roles, and this veteran actor can drop the pounds practically at will.
For example, he lost over 50 pounds in a year after getting heavy for his role in 2016’s The Nice Guys. While his weight loss is partially due to a good diet, Crowe mostly burns through the pounds via intense exercise.
Jonah Hill
Jonah Hill is an actor who made his mark on the world as, to be blunt, the chubby friend to the movie’s protagonist in movies such as Superbad. However, Hill is the protagonist of his own life, and has left “chubby” by the wayside!
At his heaviest, he reportedly weighed 300 pounds. But, with the help of nutritional advice and healthy eating, Hill has lost so much weight that he may be unrecognizable to fans of his older roles. He first slimmed down for 2011’s Moneyball, where he starred opposite Brad Pitt and earned an Oscar nomination.
His weight has fluctuated since then, and he’s not afraid to put pounds back on for a role, such as gaining 40 pounds for 2016’s War Dogs. But he seems highly skilled at losing them all over again, and was once again looking svelte for the 2018 premiere of his directorial debut Mid90s.
Wendy Williams
The world got used to listening to Wendy Williams for advice on her self-titled talk show. And it seems that weight loss is something she could teach all of us a thing or two about.
She lost 50 pounds and looks almost completely different. And nobody is more excited than Williams because she can now rock just about any look in her wardrobe. How you doin’? Wendy is doing just fine!
Adele
When Adele achieved fame with her 2010 hit single “Rolling in the Deep,” her philosophy was basically “heavy and proud.” She had no problem that her figure was not some Hollywood ideal, and neither did her legions of adoring fans.
A few years later, perhaps due to becoming a mother in 2012, she decided to fully embrace the clean diet lifestyle to see how far it would take her.
The answer? Pretty damn far, as the stunning singer is looking slim and sleek. She reportedly lost 50 pounds after the birth of her son. And she’s losing more all the time, including losing 15 pounds in June 2019, post-divorce.
Drew Carey
Drew Carey has always been known for his larger-than-life appearance and personality. You could see it week after week on his hit sitcom The Drew Carey Show. But fans who’ve watched him in more recent years on The Price Is Right see a transformed man!
Carey used simple diet and exercise to both manage his diabetes and shed some pounds. And he’s done an amazing job! He’s lost over 100 pounds and looks absolutely incredible.
Al Roker
For years, Al Roker was known for being a big guy. As weather anchor for the Today Show since 1996, he was arguably America’s most iconic chubby newsman. At his heaviest, he weight 340 pounds. But then he lost a bunch of weight… and he did it twice!
His most dramatic weight loss came after getting a gastric bypass in 2003, after which he lost 150 pounds. He later put about 40 pounds of that weight back on when his mother’s health declined. Fortunately, he lost it all again through healthy eating and exercise.
John Goodman
John Goodman is another male actor who became burned into the public consciousness as a big dude. In fact, anyone who ever watched an episode of Roseanne can remember him as being a giant bear of a man.
That’s all in the past, though, and the legendary actor has now lost over 100 pounds. He makes it sound easy, too, saying that all he had to do was ditch the binge-eating and exercise whenever he could find the time.