Rob McElhenney Transformed His Body Several Times for 'It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia'

Kumail Nanjiani, David Harbour, and Chris Pratt are some of the actors who have recently made headlines by embarking on a weight loss journey for a role. Kumail debuted a brand new look a few years ago, having adopted a positively grueling workout routine and diet in preparation for the shooting of Eternals, in which he plays Kingo. Chris embarked on a similar journey upon signing with Marvel Studios, and David has had to endure this transformation for multiple roles, including Stranger Things. However, what many don't know is that Rob McElhenney also transformed his body for his role on It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

Rob's fluctuating waistline has long served as a source of fascination for die-hard fans of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and everyone else with easy access to this old thing called the internet. Rob first attracted attention by putting on 50 pounds purely for the sake of his art — and to round out Mac's main plot lines in Season 7 of Always Sunny — which he promptly followed up by debuting a The Terminator-era Arnold Schwarzenegger type situation in Season 13.

Needless to add, the move attracted many eyeballs — but so did the events captured between Season 7 and 13 of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Rob briefly talked about his dedication to the craft, the perhaps less-than-glamorous undersides of working as an actor, and how he stayed motivated in a 2020 interview with Men's Health.

"It turns out that people on the internet have a lot to say. I don't know if you're aware of that. One of the subjects that a certain sub-sect of the internet has found interesting is my body transformations from normal to morbidly obese to in very good shape and back to normal," Rob told Men's Health. "We're going to check out what the internet has to say about that, and I'm going to try and respond in the classiest way possible."

"The truth is, I have more dedication to the paycheck than I do to the comedy bit. They pay me a lot of money to do this," Rob responded to a tweet appraising him for having the sheer willpower to go through a transformation of this ilk for the sake of a TV show. "If you can find a studio who's willing to pay you what they pay me to make It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, you will have a lot more dedication than you think."

In the same interview with Men's Health, Rob also addressed previous allegations regarding steroids.

"I'm not going to get into the medical science of it. Increased levels of testosterone is just a cross I have to bear," Rob said. "Some men just have elevated levels of testosterone. If you look at Kumail and if you look at me, you'd be like, 'Well, sure, those two guys must have elevated levels of testosterone naturally because they are just alpha-dog monsters."

"And I talk about it with Kumail all the time, and I'm like 'We are just very masculine men," he added. "Sometimes we just have to work out a little bit and pop our shirts off, and that's just the way it's going to be.'"