On March 8, Renée Zellweger's newest show, The Thing About Pam, debuted on NBC to mixed reviews, including some criticism of the choice to put the famously slim star into a prosthetic fat suit to play the main character, Pam. The series — based on the real-life story of a non-Hollywood skinny middle-aged woman (and convicted murderer) named Pam Hupp — is just the latest in a long line of movies and TV shows that rely on makeup, prosthetics, and lumpy and baggy clothes to transform slim actresses into caricatures of fat women.
We absolutely hate it! There are so many reasons why the whole skinny actress in a fat costume thing really needs to stop. First of all, there are incredibly talented plus-size actresses who should be the first choice for characters of size. Like, hello? Nicole Byer, Melissa McCarthy, Queen Latifah, Chrissy Metz, and many others are already out there, killing it.
Second, fat suits are almost always used to make characters who are bound to be made fun of, and who are portrayed as dumpy, frumpy, or completely nonsexual. Part of this is because Hollywood still has major fat phobia and part of this is because fat suits look bad. They don't look like real fat bodies with all the curves and softness.
Don't believe us? Go take a look at Ashley Graham and then look at Renée as Pam and tell us there isn't a difference. We'll wait. We're so over this trend, so we are putting 15 celebs who've donned a fat suit on blast for promoting fat phobia and making it look so cringey while doing it.
Gwyneth Paltrow in 'Shallow Hal'
Oh boy, do we hate this movie. Shallow Hal is basically a two-hour-long fat joke, starring Ms. Goop herself, Gwyneth Paltrow. Gwyneth once described it as "so sad" and "so disturbing."
"No one would make eye contact with me because I was obese. I felt humiliated," she said. It's really hard to feel any sympathy for that, however, given that she was more than willing to get paid to be the butt of fat jokes.
Courteney Cox in 'Friends'
Friends is one of the most wildly popular sitcoms ever, and there are parts of it that we'll always love. Who can hate on the classic song that is "Smelly Cat"? But, woof, the show has not aged well when it comes to being homophobic and fat phobic. The whole "Fat Monica" storyline was basically just one long, stupid "joke" that goes like this: Monica (played by Courteney Cox) used to be fat! Ew, gross! Hard pass.
Eddie Murphy as Sherman Klump
It isn't just thin actresses who are happy to make fat people the butt of their jokes by wearing a fat suit. Men can get in on the cringey action too, just like Eddie Murphy did as the socially awkward loser Sherman Klump in The Nutty Professor movies. We don't like it any better when the guys do it, for the record.
Sarah Paulson as Linda Tripp
Sarah Paulson donned a fat suit to play the infamous Linda Tripp in American Crime Story. She did later admit, "There's a lot of controversy around actors and fat suits, and I think that controversy is a legitimate one. I think fat phobia is real. I think to pretend otherwise causes further harm." But yet she still opted to wear a fat suit.
Chris Hemsworth as Fat Thor
The Marvel movie Endgame takes place after a tragedy of unimaginable proportions (spoiler alert: half of the world's population is killed in an instant), and Chris Hemsworth's character of Thor is one of the survivors. Even the idea that a superhero with major survivor's guilt might turn to food and beer for comfort isn't safe from being the butt of jokes, as "fat Thor" was used as a comic element in the movie.
Mila Kunis as Fat Jackie
Perhaps one of the worst looking, least realistic looking fat suits (which is saying something, trust us) belongs to Mila Kunis as "fat Jackie" on That '70s Show. The "joke" behind this one is that this is a future version of Jackie who has "let herself go." Har har.
Ryan Reynolds in 'Just Friends'
One of the most annoying things about fat suit usage in Hollywood movies is that it is just so damn lazy. The fat character isn't just fat, they also have to be socially awkward, nerdy, or kind of a loser. Isn't there some other way we can show a Ryan Reynolds-style glow-up without having the character start as a fat loser?
Julia Roberts in 'America's Sweetheart'
Even Pretty Woman icon Julia Roberts gave into the temptation to get laughs as a fat, frumpy loser by putting on a fat suit. Her character in the 2001 movie America's Sweetheart has an "embarrassing" backstory of being a whole 180 pounds, which is barely even in plus-size territory for a 5-foot-9 woman but was still presented as some mortifying fact.
Mike Myers as Fat Bastard
Fat Bastard might truly be one of the most disgusting movie characters ever, including an infamous scene where he literally drinks his own feces. It really doesn't get more fat phobic than that, even though Mike Myers has claimed that the Austin Powers character came out of his own struggles with weight.
Goldie Hawn in 'Death Becomes Her'
Here's a thing to notice: When actors or actresses slap on a fat suit, it's never to play a character who is happy. Or a character who is confident or sexual or doing great. Nope. They play someone who is depressed, crazy, or otherwise riding the struggle bus, just like Goldie Hawn's character in Death Becomes Her.
Matt LeBlanc as Fat Joey
From the people who brought us fat Monica, we also get to see how funny it could have been if another Friends character had let themselves become a fat object of ridicule. This time it was Matt LeBlanc's Joey, in an alternate reality where he marries chef Monica.
Renée Zellweger as Pam Hupp
It's really not that complicated. If it makes sense for a character to be fat (or they are just fat because fat people, you know, exist), then cast a fat actress. If it makes sense to cast Renée Zellweger for a role, then make the character thin. See, not complicated at all.
Max Greenfield as Fat Schmidt
We love the show New Girl, but we really don't love the flashback scenes to when majorly type-A character Schmidt was an awkward, fat college student. Note to Hollywood: Characters can be shy, awkward, and not-so-good with the ladies in lots of ways, and weight doesn't have to be shorthand for that.
Amy Adams in 'Smallville'
In the early days of her acting career, Amy Adams did a guest-starring role on the show Smallville. She played a fat character who is made skinny by ingesting some space dust-laced vegetables, which leads to her having intense cravings for body fat, with some cannibalistic outcomes. Sweet story.
John Travolta in 'Hairspray'
What could be funnier than a thin actor in a fat suit? Well, duh. It would be a thin male actor portraying a fat woman and, of course, her name has to be Edna. The role of Edna in Hairspray was first made famous by the drag queen Divine, who was at least a person of size. Why another drag performer or fat femme couldn't have played Edna is a mystery lost to the ages, apparently.
