Larger than Life Stars We Love

Gabourey Sidibe, Academy Award nominee for Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire, has been all over the news lately. She is not being talked about because of her Oscar nod or her amazing performance in the film. Or because of her outstanding appearance on last week's episode of The Soup. She's not making headlines for some upcoming role that everyone's buzzing about, but instead we see her name because a certain weight loss group approached her to become a spokesman. Now Gabourey is defending herself left and right over an online dialogue that has been going back and fourth about her appearance vs. her health.

We just want to say — leave the poor girl alone. While we wish everyone a healthy, long life, her body is her own business. So stay out of it. Besides, there are plenty of successful actors that don’t fit Hollywood's mold of the ideal physique. They are not all overweight by medical standards, but certainly don't fall within the realm of the size zero world of the celebrity status quo. Here are some other stars who do not fit in with the cookie cutter crowd.


Jim Belushi
For a really long time, Jim Belushi was just a poor man's John Belushi. But after an incredibly hard-to-believe 27 years, Jim has fought his way out of his legendary brother's shadow, from his own stint on SNL to the eight-season run of According to Jim.

Jerry Ferrara
Jerry Ferrara's character on Entourage recently took on what many considered an unbelievable story line when his pudgy but lovable alter ego, Turtle, started dating Sopranos star Jamie-Lynn Sigler. Sigler plays her as-hot-as-always self on the show, and the ongoing joke is that Turtle shouldn't be able to get a TV star as pretty as her. So ABC reporter Dan Harris thought he was entering into safe territory during a spontaneous interview with Jamie-Lynn when he asked her if in real life she thought beautiful women "did or would date fat dudes." Sigler handled it gracefully, considering that Ferrara was her boyfriend in real life at the time.

America Ferrera
We all know America Ferrera is by no stretch overweight (and a lot of her Ugly Betty image is just bad fashion), but still we love her because she seems like she would be a great friend to hang out with. She's not a skinny, blonde, perfectly tanned size zero who lives on carrot sticks and Smart Water. She's the kind of girl who'll watch TV and eat a pint of ice cream. We like that in a friend.

Lenny Clarke
We love Lenny Clarke, mostly because he's from Boston and he reminds us of home. Sure, he was funny on It's All Relative and The Job, but honestly, we kinda thought he got the good gigs because he was friends with Denis Leary. But did you see the final episode of Rescue Me Season 5? He deserves an Emmy for that one.

Brooke Elliott
In Drop Dead Diva Brooke Elliott masters the craft of acting like a petite, blonde, ditzy, gorgeous model accidentally transported inside the body of a robust, brainy lawyer. Her performance every week is (as corny as it may sound) delightful to watch.

Kevin James
We'll be honest. We never really got Kevin James. King of Queens is funny, but it just never grabbed us. But do you know what did? Paul Blart: Mall Cop. We are now officially fans of the portly, lovable James and hope he comes back to the small screen soon so we can give him another chance. And, whenever we are sad, we remember his wise words: "Peanut butter. It fills the cracks of the heart."

Luke Conley
You've gotta give it to The Bachelor producer Mike Fleiss. When it comes to reality TV dating shows, he and his partners are brilliant. They seem to get that the key to the whole reality game is casting. So when they introduced us to Luke Conley, star of the big-boned Bachelor-esque series More to Love, we weren't surprised. Luke may be heavier than the typical hot tub hunk, but he could out-charm the most charming Bachelor, from Alex Michel to Jason Mesnick.

Camryn Manheim
Camryn Manheim was one of the first plus-size girls we remember kicking butt on TV. When we watched her on The Practice, she taught us that a woman could be big-boned and sexy and tough-as-nails all at the same time. When she won her Emmy for The Practice, she exclaimed, "This is for all the fat girls!" Rock on.

Fred Berry
Who didn't love Rerun? Sure sometimes he drove Raj and Dwayne crazy, but he could bust a move and he was always there for a friend. Sadly, Fred Berry's weight got the best of him. After a lifetime struggling with diabetes, he succumbed to a stroke in 2003... but we always have What's Happening! reruns to bring us Rerun.

Sebastian Cabot
Family Affair's Mr. French looked like he gave a really good hug, just like our little round mother used to give. Anyone who can hug like that makes our list.