Ethan Suplee

Suplee was born in Manhattan, New York City, the son of Debbie and Bill Suplee (who later played Willie the One Eyed Mailman in My Name Is Earl). His parents were actors who met while performing summer stock theater and appeared on Broadway. On the Your Welcome show, Ethan stated that he dropped out of school at age 14.

The first major role Suplee landed was as Willam in Mallrats, directed by Kevin Smith, alongside future My Name is Earl costar Jason Lee. He also appeared briefly in the independent View Askew-produced Drawing Flies. Smith cast both Suplee and Lee again in later films Chasing Amy and Dogma. They both make cameos in Clerks II. At the same time as the filming of Mallrats, Suplee also had a recurring role as Frankie "The Enforcer" Stechino in Boy Meets World, from 1994 to 1998.

Suplee's dramatic performances include the roles of the ruthless white power skinhead Seth in American History X, one of three men who rape a clown in Vulgar, Ashton Kutcher's goth college roommate "Thumper" in The Butterfly Effect, American football player Louie Lastik in Remember the Titans, Johnny Depp's buddy and initial drug-dealing partner Tuna in Blow, and the simpleminded Pangle in Cold Mountain. Suplee also had a cameo in the HBO TV series Entourage in the fictional movie Queens Boulevard.

In 2014, he was cast in the TV Land original sitcom Jennifer Falls, which reunited him with My Name Is Earl co-star, Jaime Pressly. In 2016, Suplee started playing D in Hulu's series Chance, as well as police officer Billy "Beer Pong" Tompkins on the Netflix sitcom The Ranch.

In 2020, Suplee launched his own podcast entitled American Glutton.

In August 2026, Suplee publicly cautioned against overreliance on GLP-1 weight-loss drugs, saying that sustainable weight loss comes from building healthier long-term habits rather than relying on medication alone.

Since 2006, Suplee has been married to Brandy Lewis, the younger sister of actress and singer Juliette Lewis. He is a Scientologist.

In March 2011, Suplee was featured on TMZ on TV, having lost over 200 lb (91 kg) in body weight. He mentioned on his podcast American Glutton that his heaviest weight was 530 lb (240 kg) and his lightest weight was 220 lb (100 kg). He has credited cycling for helping keep fit, explaining "I ride road bikes, I ride bicycles". He once reached an all-time low of 9% body fat, but put some of the weight back on upon realizing that his weight had been a past source of acting opportunities.

In August 2026, Suplee talked about his use of heroin in a tribute to the recently deceased Hayden Panettiere, his Remember the Titans co-star.