9 Male Celebs Who’ve Gone Through Body Issues

Women aren’t the only ones that can experience issues with body image — men can too. Society often places a lot of pressure on men to have a certain muscular or lean physique, which can lead to body dissatisfaction and even eating disorders. Men may also feel self-conscious about balding, hair loss, or other physical features, just like women. The male celebs in our article are not afraid to speak up about these and other issues they have.

1. Sam Claflin

Actor Sam Claflin may have been lucky in the genetic lottery, but he still struggles with insecurities about his appearance. In one of his interviews, he recounted a few incidents where he was pressured to lose weight and felt objectified on set: “I remember doing one job when they literally made me pull my shirt up and were grabbing my fat and going, ’You need to lose a bit of weight.’”

While he recognizes that his experiences are not comparable to those of women, Claflin admits to feeling nervous and insecure when he is required to appear shirtless in a role, explaining, “I get really worked up to the point where I spend hours and hours in the gym and not eating for weeks to achieve what I think they’re going for.”

2. Channing Tatum

The actor Channing Tatum has revealed that achieving the perfect body for on-screen roles is a fleeting accomplishment. He also admitted that getting naked in front of a crowd was stressful, sharing, “You gotta get naked. [I get] nervous getting naked in front of one person, much less a thousand people, so it’s nerve-racking...all of it.”

He recognizes that Hollywood places unattainable pressure on celebrities to fit into certain body types, and he also fell victim to unhealthy habits when filming Magic Mike XXL. However, the actor acknowledges that men in Hollywood are often able to fit into any role they desire, whereas women face pressure to conform to specific body types.

3. Richard Madden

The actor, known for his roles in Game of Thrones and Bodyguard, has faced pressure to lose weight and tone up for numerous jobs throughout his career. In a 2019 interview, he described how people would pinch his “fat rolls” and make him wear corset-like costumes. He also acknowledged the unhealthy and unrealistic expectations placed on actors and how he and his fellow actors would often engage in extreme diets and exercise regimens to meet these demands.

“I find myself with actor friends — after we’ve done a kind of barely eating, working-out-twice-a-day, no-carbing thing for these scenes — looking at each other going, ’We’re just feeding this same stuff that we’re against,’” Madden said.

4. Chris Pratt

Chris Pratt, best known for his role as Star-Lord in the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise, has also struggled with body image issues. During a 2014 press conference for the film, he acknowledged that he may not fully understand the pressures faced by women in Hollywood, but he could relate to emotional eating and using food to cope with negative feelings.

“I do know what it feels like to eat emotionally, and...to be sad and make yourself happy with food,” he said. “And then to be almost immediately sad again and now ashamed and then to try to hide those feelings with more food. I know what that’s like. It’s a vicious cycle and it’s a very real thing.”

5. Ed Sheeran

In one of his interviews, musician Ed Sheeran discussed his struggles with body image and how he came to the realization that his unhealthy habits were the cause of his dissatisfaction. He admitted, “I was never really happy with my image and then I realized it was because I was eating fried food every day.”

However still talking about the body image pressures in the music industry, Sheeran explained that the industry has room for all kinds of people, regardless of their appearance. “There are enough fat people in the industry and there are enough skinny people in the industry and there are enough ginger people in the industry. There’s enough of everyone in the industry, and usually, the ones that aren’t attractive are the ones that do the best.”

6. Jesse Plemons

In a GQ interview, Jesse Plemons discussed his weight gain for the film, Black Mass. He mentioned how people were shocked by his weight gain, but he had been overweight for a while.

Talking about it made him more empathetic toward the body image issues women face, as men are not held under the same microscope. Plemons found it strange that people considered his weight gain an accomplishment.

7. Arnold Schwarzenegger

Even bodybuilders are not immune to body image issues, and Arnold Schwarzenegger revealed that this has stayed with him his entire life. “When I look in the mirror, I throw up,” Schwarzenegger divulged.

He added that, even when he was in the best shape of his life, he was “so critical” of himself because he believed that he was “lacking” something. “I never saw perfection,” said the bodybuilder.

8. Zayn Malik

Former One Direction member Zayn Malik wrote in his 2016 book, Zayn, about his struggles with an eating disorder. He revealed that he suffered from the disorder in late 2014, before the band’s final tour, and that it was a way for him to feel in control of something in his life.

Malik said that he would sometimes go for days without eating anything at all and that his weight loss had become so severe that he grew ill. He attributed the disorder to the pressures and stress of being on the road with the band and the impact it had on his eating habits.

9. Chris Pine

Actor Chris Pine spoke to Men’s Journal about the pressure to have a perfect body in Hollywood. He said that the mass audience only wants to see actors who are physically perfect, with big pecs, great skin, and perfect eyes. Pine believes that this creates body image dysmorphia for young people who don’t see a range of body types represented on-screen.