‘Roseanne’ Star John Goodman Reveals Unexpected Downside of Losing 200 Pounds

Michelle Stein October 20, 2026, 9:48 am

What To Know

John Goodman discussed his struggles with alcoholism and weight fluctuations, ultimately achieving sobriety and significant weight loss after undergoing stomach surgery.
He also revealed an unexpected downside to losing 200 pounds.
Goodman is best known for his role on Roseanne and its spinoff The Conners, with both shows available on various streaming platforms.

Roseanne star John Goodman revealed an unexpected downside of losing 200 pounds.

In an interview with The New Yorker published on October 18, the actor known for his role as Dan Conner in the ’90s sitcom opened up about his weight-loss and sobriety journeys.

“There’s a saying in the rooms: I got sick and tired of being sick and tired,” Goodman explained, of becoming fed up with living as an alcoholic.

He continued, “The thing about instant gratification is you don’t really care what’s going to happen right after it—which always led to bigger hangovers or me getting the shakes, and having to drink to get rid of the shakes, and that vicious cycle. I was in a position, when I quit, where I had to be hospitalized one way or the other. I just was tired of it, and I wanted to stop.”

Before he quit drinking at 55, Goodman said that his weight yo-yoed drastically.

“I’d lose sixty pounds in a summer, gain it all back. Seventy pounds, eighty pounds. And that got tiring,” he recalled. “I took steps so I wouldn’t have to do that anymore. I was almost four hundred pounds. I was eating alcoholically after I stopped drinking.”

Ultimately, weight-loss surgery is what helped Goodman keep off the weight for good.“I had an operation on my stomach,” he shared, without detailing the specific procedure.

That’s when Goodman revealed a surprising drawback to shedding the weight, explaining, “But I also turned anemic and lost a layer of fat under my skin, and I’m cold all the time.”

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Roseanne aired 10 seasons from 1988 to 1997. In addition to Goodman, the sitcom starred Roseanne Barr, Laurie Metcalf, Sara Gilbert, Michael Fishman, Lecy Goranson, Johnny Galecki, Natalie West, and Sarah Chalke, among others.

In March 2018, the Roseanne revival premiered. But after Barr was fired for posting a racist Tweet, the show was cancelled that May. A spinoff (without Barr) called The Conners premiered in October 2018; it ran for seven seasons through April 2025.

Aside from Roseanne, Goodman is known for his roles in TV shows like The Righteous Gemstones, Treme, and Alpha House, and films like 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016), The Flintstones (1994), Argo (2012), Barton Fink (1991), Flight (2012), Monsters, Inc. (2001), and The Emperor’s New Groove (2000), among others.