Wayne Knight is coming clean about how his mᴀssive weight loss has affected his career.
The beloved Seinfeld actor revealed that his career prospects have largely dried up since losing an astounding 100lbs.
Yet Knight, who was cagey about the methods he used for shedding the pounds, still sounded optimistic that the acting gigs would return during a chat at Los Angeles’ LAX airport with TMZ.
The 69-year-old comic actor looked particularly svelte in a black windbreaker and matching shirt.
After he was asked if his weight loss has affected his work, he replied ‘Yes,’ before clarifying that it was ‘in a bad way.’
‘But it takes time,’ he quickly clarified. ‘It takes time for people to accept you as you are, and then they find out whether or not you can still do things without being fat.’
Wayne Knight is coming clean about how his mᴀssive weight loss has affected his career. The Seinfeld actor revealed his career prospects have largely dried up since losing 100lbs during a chat with TMZ; he’s pictured above in 2023 (L) and 2013 (R)
Newman, 69, looked svelte in all black, and considerably slimmer than at his heaviest in the mid-1990s; pictured with Jerry Seinfeld and Michael Richards on Seinfeld
He added somberly: ‘It’s just what it is. You just have to accept the fact that you can’t sell something that you’re not.’
Knight was less forthcoming when it came to his secrets for losing weight.
Read More Nineties sitcom star makes rare appearance looking barely recognizable while enjoying a workout 
He clarified that it wasn’t a rapid Ozempic-style weight loss, but took place ‘over a period of many years.’
The film and television star explained that he had lost around 100 pounds since he appeared as a scheming computer programmer in Steven Spielberg’s iconic 1993 film Jurᴀssic Park.
That year, he explained why he hoped to lose weight while chatting with Entertainment Weekly.
‘I used to smoke, drink, and eat a lot, with a family history of heart disease,’ he admitted.
He sounded game to do whatever it took to get in shape, and he said he had done ‘everything that anyone could ever try.’
That included ‘therapy,’ ‘drugs,’ ‘surgery’ and ‘radiation,’ though he didn’t expand on any of those methods.
After he was asked if his weight loss has affected his work, he replied ‘Yes,’ before clarifying that it was ‘in a bad way’; seen with (L–R) Phil Morris, Larry Thomas and Patrick Warburton in August in Rosemont, Ill.
‘But it takes time,’ he quickly clarified. ‘It takes time for people to accept you as you are, and then they find out whether or not you can still do things without being fat’; pictured slimmed down in August (L) and around his heaviest in 1993’s Jurᴀssic Park (R)
Knight was less forthcoming when it came to his secrets for losing weight. He clarified that it wasn’t a rapid Ozempic-style weight loss, but took place ‘over a period of many years’; seen in 1995 on Senfeld
He was game to do whatever it took to lose weight, and he said he did ‘everything that anyone could ever try,’ including ‘therapy,’ ‘drugs,’ ‘surgery’ and ‘radiation’; still from Them (2024)
He said only ‘one’ thing he tried was effective, but when the interviewer asked which one, he replied with a smile: ‘I don’t know’; pictured on Seinfeld in 1995
He joked that he had even been ‘taken by aliens’ in an attempt to slim down.
Knight added with a sly smile that he had tried ‘every single one’ of those things, but only ‘one of them worked.’
When the interviewer asked him which one was effective for him, he smiled and responded, ‘I don’t know.’
When he was asked if he was trying to lose weight ‘the old-fashioned way,’ he responded: ‘What do you mean, not eating? Yes, that does work.’
Knight has had a distinguished career with supporting roles in a variety of classic films and blockbusters, including Jurᴀssic Park, Oliver Stone’s JFK, Basic Instinct and Space Jam, among many others.
He’s also been a prolific television star, but he’s best known for his recurring role as Jerry Seinfeld’s nemesis Newman on the comedians eponymous series.
