Jesse Plemons is reflecting on how gaining weight for a role over a decade ago influenced both his career and personal identity.
The Zero Day star, 36, revealed in a new interview that putting on weight for 2015’s Black Mass—where he portrayed former mobster Kevin Weeks—had a lasting impact.
“[Gaining weight] was a decision I made at that age, given that opportunity for that director—and I was playing a real person. I don’t regret it,” Plemons said of the film, which was directed by Scott Cooper and also starred Johnny Depp. “But it was very easy to put the weight on and much more difficult taking it off.”
He admitted that the experience took a toll on him. “I don’t know if it’s something I would do again—because it did mess me up a bit,” Plemons shared.
Beyond the physical challenge, the decision had a lasting effect on his career trajectory. “I felt like that decision I made sort of dictated the types of parts I was being asked to play, and then started to seep into my own identity,” he explained. “Which wasn’t necessarily who I was before that.”
As the Academy Award nominee told, his role in 2024’s Civil War later prompted him to lose weight through lifestyle changes and fasting. The opportunity to be part of the film “snapped me out of it,” he said.
“As well as having young kids,” Plemons added. “And I just got a handle on it again. Having lost the weight, aside from feeling better, it does feel like I’ve opened another door to potential parts I can play.”
The actor—who shares sons Ennis, 6, and James, 3, with wife Kirsten Dunst—previously joked to the Los Angeles Times that it was “really unfortunate that I decided to get healthy when everyone decided to take Ozempic.”
Jesse Plemons
When discussing his fitness journey around the filming of Civil War, in which he plays a soldier, Plemons emphasized that his motivation wasn’t about appearance but rather the role itself and his own age.
“I lost a little bit before I did that part,” he told the L.A. Times. “Several people talked to me about intermittent fasting, and I just gave it a shot and [was] surprised at how quickly it was effective.”
Plemons on Working with Robert De Niro in Zero Day
Plemons is currently starring in Netflix’s Zero Day, alongside Angela Bassett, Connie Britton, and Robert De Niro. The series follows a former U.S. president who takes extreme measures to track down “the perpetrators of a devastating cyber attack that has caused chaos around the country and thousands of fatalities,” according to the official synopsis.
Plemons shared that he has grown “a little more comfortable” working with De Niro, 81, whom he has collaborated with several times before.
“It’s one of those things I never even thought to dream about,” he admitted. “You don’t even allow that thought… he’s one of the best actors of all time. Those few scenes I had with him in The Irishman, I was doing just everything I could to not freak out.”
Zero Day is now streaming on Netflix.
