A major contributing factor to the popularity and success of Shallow Hal was its cast. The Farrelly Brothers directed Shallow Hal from a screenplay written by the brothers and Sean Moynihan. Although its story might be regarded as bland by many of today’s movie audiences, Shallow Hal was a massive success during its theatrical run and home media releases.
Its plot centered around the popular ideology of inner beauty. Hypnotized by a life coach, Hal Larson is forced to see only women’s inner beauty rather than their physical beauty. This causes him to fall in love with the 300-pound-weighted Rosie, whom he sees as a beautiful trophy blonde. Here are the top Shallow Hal cast members and where they are right now in their careers.
Jack Black as Hal Larson
Shallow Hal was Jack Black’s first lead role in a movie. Besides the recognition he received playing the supporting role of Barry in High Fidelity (2000), Shallow Hal’s success helped promote Black’s character. Although Hal Larson loved women, he was always unlucky in picking beautiful women because of his vain approach to picking women for their beauty. After an encounter with life coach Tony Robbins (played by himself), where they’re both trapped in an elevator, Robbins hypnotizes Hal to only see women’s inner beauty.
Hal Larson soon becomes infatuated with Rosie and later falls in love with her. Although Shallow Hal had a cliché ending, it makes up for it with lots of humor. Jack Black became one of the most sought-after comedy actors, voicing and starring in several notable movies. Some of Jack Black’s notable movies include School of Rock (2003), King Kong (2005), voicing Po in the Kung Fu Panda movies, Gulliver’s Travels (2010), and Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017) and its sequel. He also voiced Bowser in the 2023 The Super Mario Bros. Movie.
Gwyneth Paltrow as Rosemary “Rosie” Shanahan
Academy Award-winning actress Gwyneth Paltrow joined Shallow Hal‘s cast as its female lead. She played Rosemary “Rosie” Shanahan, Hal Larson’s love interest. Paltrow played the inner beauty Rosie and the 300-pound Rosie everyone saw. It’s one of the roles Gwyneth Paltrow has admitted she did not enjoy playing. She had to wear a 25-pound fat suit and prosthetic makeup for the character, spending hours getting ready for the character. Rosie Shanahan was also Hal Larson’s boss’s daughter. In 2008, Gwyneth Paltrow joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) in their first movie, Iron Man, portraying Pepper Potts. The actress continues to play the character whenever it is featured in any MCU film. A few other of Gwyneth Paltrow’s notable roles include performances in Contagion (2011), Mortdecai (2015), and on Netflix’s comedy-drama The Politician (2019-2020).
Jason Alexander as Mauricio Wilson
A few years after playing the iconic character of George Costanza in Seinfeld (1989-1998), Jason Alexander joined Shallow Hal‘s cast in a supporting role as Mauricio Wilson. The character was a friend of Hal Larson, who accompanied Hal on his charades to pick women. After Shallow Hal, Jason Alexander has had more credits as a voice actor in film and television than in regular roles. His most recent movie role was voicing Jayda’s Dad in the animated film Leo (2023). On the small screen, Alexander starred in recurring roles in notable TV shows such as Everybody Hates Chris (2006-2007), Hit the Road (2017), and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (2019-2022). He currently plays Gene Lundy, Sheldon’s music teacher, in Young Sheldon.
Joe Viterelli as Steve Shanahan
Before joining Shallow Hal’s cast, actor Joe Viterelli was known for playing Jelly in Analyze This (1999). Viterelli played Steve Shanahan in Shallow Hal, a character who was the President of the company where Hal Larson worked. Hal later found out Steve was Rosie’s father. After the movie, he played Fat Charlie in Serving Sara (2002) and reprised his role as Jelly in the sequel Analyze That (2002). This was his final role before his death. Joe Viterelli died from heart surgery complications at the hospital on January 28, 2004. He was aged 66.
Susan Ward as Jill
Jill was Hal Larson’s neighbor, whom he had a crush on. However, she rejected him for being too vain and shallow about women’s beauty. When she sees him change, she develops an interest in him. Realizing he’s in love with Rosie, Hal moves on from Jill to pursue Rosie. Actress and model Susan Ward joined Shallow Hal‘s cast as Jill. Although she didn’t star in a movie as successful as Shallow Hal, Susan Ward starred in several successful TV series. She starred in Just Legal (2005-2006) and Make It or Break It (2009-2011). Susan Ward’s last acting credit dates back to 2012, when she guest-starred in an episode (“Before and After”) of Major Crimes as Annette Raber. Although she never officially retired from acting, Susan Ward hasn’t starred in any film or television series since 2012. If Shallow Hal‘s cast felt nostalgic, check out Beverly Hills Cop Cast: Then and Now.