How many times have you watched What's eating Gilbert Grape and wondered what happened to Darlene Cates, the woman who played Johnny Depp's mother? At the time she filmed the movie Darlene weighed 575 pounds. Now she weighs 331 pounds and wants to lose another 100. That is so amazing. She told The Dallas Morning News that with the weight loss comes a desire for her to start acting again. Johnny Depp has remarked what a wonderful actress she is and she still has a letter from him telling her this.
Good for her!
ReplyDeleteOT- frufra! I totally missed the cos Tommy post yesterday! I was cracking up while reading it. He is such. Sex pot for me. Sickening. I am a true Tomoholic!
Love Love Loved that movie - awesome she's working on her health!
ReplyDeleteThat's fantastic! I hope she keeps on losing. It sure isn't easy.
ReplyDeleteGood for her!
ReplyDeleteI hope she's happy and healthy and has the opportunity to start acting again.
good for her! takes so much bravery and dedication.
ReplyDeletewhat a lovely lady, and what a gracious attitude...god bless her. i'm rooting her on...i'm sure she can reach her weight loss goal.
ReplyDeleteI had assumed she had died by now due to her obesity. Good for her you can start over at any age and great things can happen.
ReplyDeleteGood luck Darlene. I love that movie.
ReplyDelete"SAY THANK YOU GILBERT SAY THANK YOU!"
ReplyDeleteFucking commercial burned that in my head...
Good for her but I swear she looks a lot more that 331 # to me. I hope she makes it to her goal. I know how hard it must be. That movie was just awesome and made me fall in love with Johnny Depp. Also does anyone see the similarity in the actors performance of the brother from "There's Something About Mary" and Leo's? I think Leo was so wonderful in "GG" and think that other actor copied him a bit. IMHO
ReplyDeleteShe looks pretty good for a woman who has been extremely obese for all these years. Bravo to her for getting herself healthy again.
ReplyDeleteKudos to her for losing the weight. Kicking an overeating addiction must be THE hardest thing, b/c we all need to eat to survive.
ReplyDeleteThat said, I was telling my kids (b/c we watched WEGG? again last night with the girls), that I had thought she had passed on to the otherside, so everyone was quite happy that this article came out today, and not only that she is in fact, very much alive but that she lost 250lbs+.
I absolutely HATE when actors talking about their weight use actual numbers because they or the media reporting it are almost always lying. It's extremely detrimental to people outside of Hollywood because it completely distorts reality and a person's sense of self. Example -- when Jonah Hill showed up having lost a great deal of weight, it was reported that he lost 40 pounds. Yeaaaaah.
ReplyDeleteThere is absolutely no way that Darlene Cates now weighs 331 lbs. I'm the same height as her (5'9" per IMDB) and I weigh 298 lbs. I wear a size 22/24 and while I'm absolutely aware that I'm fat, I'm smaller than she is. Even sitting down, I can say I'm significantly smaller.
I'm glad she's lost weight (since that's what she wanted) and that she's looking to work again -- good for her. I just wish we lived in a society where it was okay to be honest about exactly how big or small we are.
Or better yet where it isn't an issue at all.
Whether she weighs 300 or 500 lbs. she's a hell of an actress.
Good for her!! Being as large as she was I'm sure it took a lot to be able to lose that much weight. My grandfather in-law is well over 350 and is practically bed ridden. My poor mema has to do everything for him. I'm gonna show this to her, maybe it will motivate her to put her foot down to him.
ReplyDeleteOutstanding! I love WEGG..would be great to see her in another film.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations Darlene! I saw her on ET or IE some time ago. She seemed like a really sweet woman.
ReplyDeleteI never saw that movie but she seems sweet and good for her. That was a sweet note Leo wrote to her.
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite movies. "you're my knight in shimmering armor"
ReplyDeleteGood luck to her. I am also trying to lose a significant amount of weight (70 lb ballpark) and it isn't easy.
When you were that obese, there's the matter of skin to deal with. She's also partially reclining -- and wearing something like a blanket over it. It's very hard to tell true weight in such a circumstance. From her face and arms, she could well be 331 lbs. She's also 65, so the skin isn't going to snap back like the olden days.
ReplyDeleteI was just watching part of this movie the other day on Netflix and wondering about her and if she was even still alive. She was great in the movie and Leo was incredible.
ReplyDeleteHi All!
ReplyDeleteLongtime follower; new poster. Somewhat hesitant. :) Though I feel like I already know many of you. What a great community! Loved the book and the movie. Always wondered what happened to her. You go, Darlene!!!
Welcome, KurLeeQ!
ReplyDeleteGood for her. I hope she is able to meet her goal.
ReplyDeleteWEGG is one of my favorite JD movies.