Nick Frost has revealed that food addiction played a major role in his life after losing 200lbs, and said he believes the weight loss may have helped him secure the role of Hagrid in HBO’s upcoming Harry Potter series.
The Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz actor discussed his relationship with food on the Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum podcast, including how emotional eating began during his childhood and later affected his career.
“Food has probably been the longest addiction in my life. I was addicted to food as a child, it was a way of getting myself out of the horrible home life as a child, so I used to eat secretly,”
While discussing the demanding schedule for the Harry Potter series, including its early-morning starts, Frost said he had lost ‘like 200lbs’ after Rosenbaum asked him about his weight loss.
When asked whether he could have taken the role if he had been ‘200lbs heavier’, Frost replied:
“I don’t know, I’m not sure I would have got it.”
Frost said he had gradually come to understand that he was using food as an addiction and had also learned to treat himself with greater kindness.
“I’m never not gonna have a bit of cake or a digestive, that doesn’t work for me,”
He continued:
“But what I can’t do is take the whole cake and then get in the car and drive down by the river at night time with the lights off, and just eat the whole thing,”
Frost also described the moment he realised that his eating habits had become a problem.
“A couple of years ago I’m like, I’m not doing any of these things anymore, but what I am doing is I’m lying to my family, and I’m going to buy 10 candy bars, and secretly eating that,”
“Once I realised I’m using food as an addiction, I’ve just transferred what my primary was from XYZ to this, and I was like of course.”
The actor said that recognising the issue made it easier to manage his relationship with food.
“It became really, not easy, it’s been two three years hard graft, but lowering my expectations of myself in terms of, I’m gonna have a digestive and not beat myself up about it, but also be really honest in terms of I shouldn’t have eaten that, or saying I did this, you know? It became a bit easier,”
Frost has previously addressed criticism over his decision to join the upcoming Harry Potter project amid controversy surrounding JK Rowling’s views on transgender people. Several actors from the original films have distanced themselves from Rowling.
The actor said he had disabled comments on his social media accounts after facing heavy criticism for accepting the role.
Discussing the controversy with The Observer, he said:
“She’s allowed her opinion and I’m allowed mine, they just don’t align in any way, shape or form.”
Asked whether the controversy overshadows the show, Frost said:
“But maybe it shouldn’t blow over? We shouldn’t just hope it will go away, because it makes it easier. Maybe we should educate ourselves.”
