October 21, 2026 at 6:19pm EDT

John Goodman says quitting drinking didn’t resolve his relationship with food.

In a recent interview with The New Yorker, the 74-year-old Roseanne actor discussed getting sober in 2007 and the eating habits he struggled with afterward. For years, he’d lose weight only to gain it back, and he was tired of starting over.

“I’d lose 60 pounds in a summer, gain it all back. Seventy pounds, 80 pounds. And that got tiring,” he told the outlet. “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.”

Goodman described using both food and alcohol for comfort, with little thought about how he’d feel afterward.

“The thing about instant gratification is you don’t really care what’s going to happen right after it,” he said. He described hangovers and drinking to relieve the shakes as part of “that vicious cycle.” He said his health had reached the point where hospitalization was necessary. “I just was tired of it, and I wanted to stop.”

When asked whether he’d worried that sobriety would change the cheerful, larger-than-life personality audiences knew from his movies, Goodman said that wasn’t his priority. “If I did, it was a secondary thought, because I was saving my life at that point.”

He also shared that he’d had an “operation” on his stomach, though he didn’t name the procedure. Goodman said he’s developed anemia, too, and now feels cold all the time.

These days, his exercise routine includes balance exercises, core work, and strength training. He discussed his recovery from a fractured hip after he slipped while walking in socks on the set of Digger. He had surgery the following day.

Taking care of himself extends to work, where he’s trying to ease up on the pressure he puts on himself to rehearse and remember his lines. “The best stuff happens when I’m relaxed,” he explained.

As for sobriety, Goodman said it gave him a chance to experience things he’d missed while drinking. “I was overlooking real life,” he said. “And it was great to see there was a life where I didn’t have to use anything to enjoy it.”