Hollywood’s ‘funny fat guy’ Josh Gad fears Ozempic will ruin his career after 40lbs weight loss

Josh Gad reveled anxieties over his career after recently losing 40 pounds with the help of a weight loss medication.  

Hollywood’s ‘funny fat guy’, 43, appeared on Dax Shepard’s Armchair Expert podcast on Monday, and shared he’s been taking a ‘miracle drug’ for weight loss. 

The Frozen star — who shares daughters Ava, 14, and Isabella, 10, with wife Ida Darvish — said the GLP-1 medication will help him ‘be there for my kids’, but admitted his fears over how it will affect his comedic persona. 

‘I’ve always been the funny fat guy. Can I be the funny skinny guy? Can I be the hot leading man?’ the actor — who recently recalled an unusual encounter with a bathrobe-clad Jeff Goldblum — questioned.

‘I don’t know that people would accept me as those things,’ he went on, adding that his future roles are not as much of a concern as being present for his children.

‘I’m not as worried about that because my primary goal is, I want to be there for my kids. Everything else is bulls**t.’

Josh Gad, 43, reveled anxieties over his career after recently losing 40 pounds with the help of a weight loss medication; seen January 14 in New York City

The Frozen star said the GLP-1 medication will help him ‘be there for my kids’, but admitted his fears over how it will affect his comedic persona; pictured in 2017

Opening up about his weight loss journey, Gad shared: ‘I’m on a GLP-1… this is the first time I’ve opened up about this. It has suppressed, in a great way, that noise… when I wake up, I feel hunger pains — and so much of that is psychological, right? — and what this does is it takes away that signal.’ 

GLP-1 medications, such as Ozempic and Mounjaro, are a class of drugs called glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists. They influence brain receptors that regulate appetite and satiety. 

‘It is a miracle drug,’ Gad, who provides the voice of Olaf in the Frozen films, said of the medication.

He said that he had lost 40 pounds using a different drug, but then had to change his medication after the former one caused him to develop diverticulitis.

Diverticulitis is a condition where small pouches (called diverticula) that form in the wall of the colon become inflamed or infected, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine.

‘I was really bummed out because it was working incredibly for me and I had to switch,’ the actor, who recently released his memoir In Gad We Trust, shared.

‘So, like, I’m you know figuring out this new one, and it is life-changing, but it also doesn’t negate the fact that it can’t be in the place of having a healthy relationship with food.’

He added, ‘It can’t be in the place of having a healthy relationship with exercise.’ 

Hollywood’s ‘funny fat guy’ appeared on Dax Shepard’s Armchair Expert podcast on Monday, and shared he’s been taking a ‘miracle drug’ for weight loss

‘I’ve always been the funny fat guy. Can I be the funny skinny guy? Can I be the hot leading man?’ the actor questioned; pictured January 15 in NYC

‘I don’t know that people would accept me as those things,’ he went on, adding that his future roles are not as much of a concern as being present for his children; pictured in 2023

‘I’m not as worried about that because my primary goal is, I want to be there for my kids. Everything else is bulls**t’; pictured with daughters Ava, 14, and Isabella, 10 in 2018

Gad said his wife Ida is ‘not thrilled’ about him taking the medication. Shepard asked if ‘she’s worried you’re not going to confront the core thing that’s driving’ weight gain, to which Gad said yes; the family are seen in August 2019

When Shepard questioned whether the topic was uncomfortable, Gad assured him he was ‘really happy’ to talk about the medication. ‘I’m having my own journey with it. Sometimes I feel like I’m cheating myself by doing this.’ 

Surprisingly, Gad said his wife Ida is ‘not thrilled’ about him taking the medication.

Shepard asked if ‘she’s worried you’re not going to confront the core thing that’s driving’ weight gain, to which Gad said yes.

It’s not the first time the actor has talked about losing weight.

In 2013, Gad admitted to losing around 30 pounds in weight after following a strict diet regime.

He told People that he lost the weight for various movie roles alongside a nutrionist saying he has been cutting down ‘from about 18 meals a day to about five.’

At the time Josh also revealed his diet plan, saying he ate seven egg whites with avocado and a grapefruit for breakfast, and snacked on almond nuts and a protein shake during the day.

For lunch the actor tucked into 7 oz. of turkey on a salad and non-fat dressing, while for dinner he ate salmon and vegetables followed by another protein shake.

Gad has appeared in hit films such as Beauty and the Beast, 21, Murder on the Orient Express, and Jobs; seen with Luke Evans (L) in a still from Beauty and the Beast

Gad met his wife Ida in 2004, when they were cast to play a married couple in the David Ives play All in the Timing.

The pair went on to marry in 2008.

Gad has appeared in hit films such as Beauty and the Beast, 21, Murder on the Orient Express, and Jobs.

He has also enjoyed success by voicing characters in Frozen, A Dog’s Purpose, and animated musical series, Central Park.