New Amsterdam: Tyler Labine Courageously Shares His Own Eating Disorder Through Iggy

When New Amsterdam first premiered on NBC, our favorite character was Dr. Iggy Frome, a dedicated psychiatrist portrayed by Tyler Labine. His passion for his patients and colleagues, his honesty about his food quirks (remember that secret drawer stashed with cookies?), and love for his family charmed us.

But behind the cameras, Tyler was hiding his true self. The 42-year-old actor finally talked to the New Amsterdam producers about the fact that in reality, Labine struggled with “disordered eating and body dysmorphia.”

Moreover, the New Amsterdam actor shared that he felt playing Iggy as if the psychiatrist’s love for fattening food and attempts to hide it as a cute quirk was “really triggering.” The producers didn’t just listen: They wrote Tyler’s eating disorder into the plot.

New Amsterdam Shows How Eating Disorders Impact Men as well as Women: ‘Hopefully It Will Help Other People’

Society tends to view sufferers of eating disorders as young women. However, as Labine revealed through his New Amsterdam character Iggy, adult men can suffer just as much.

Producers even wrote Tyler’s suicide attempt when he was a pre-teen, years of binge eating, and attempts at going on fad diets into the script. Only recently has Labine, like New Amsterdam’s Iggy, made the courageous decision to get professional help.

“I wish I’d done it sooner,” admitted Tyler. “It’s been really cathartic to embark on this journey with Iggy … but it’s a big breakthrough for me to tell my story, and hopefully it will help other people.”

Father of three kids with wife actress Carrie Ruscheinsky, Labine recalled beginning to get “a little chubbier” than his two brothers when he was 9-years-old. And just like his character in New Amsterdam, Tyler was mocked by his father.

The actor recalled the evening that his father viewed him with his shirt off.  “One night my dad saw me with my shirt off, slapped my gut and said, “Oh my God, that’s disgusting. Look at that thing!” I can’t imagine doing that to my 9-year-old kid, but my body was a trigger for him — he struggled with his own weight — and it became a trigger for me,” revealed Labine.

New Amsterdam Actor Began Fad Diets At Age 9 – And Tried Suicide at 12

The evening on which Tyler’s father called his body “disgusting” became a turning point – and not in a good way. Even before Labine reached his teens, he was on one diet after another, singled out as different from the rest of his family for his weight.

“[My father] built a little makeshift gym in the basement and would take pictures of me to chart my progress,” recalled the actor. “I felt like the love I received was in direct relation to how much weight I lost.”

By age 11, Tyler was thinking about liposuction. And just like his character in New Amsterdam, he tried to kill himself at age 12. “I was a really outgoing, funny kid, but I was in so much pain inside,” admitted Labine.

Alcohol And Food Became Ways to Hide Inner Pain

In his late teens, Tyler even went to an eating disorder clinic. He learned he had “severe disordered eating and was diagnosed with body dysmorphia. I could never just see my body the way it is; that “disgusting” message from when I was a kid was all I saw.”

But Labine only went to a few visits at the clinic. He continued to see himself in terms of the number on the scale, and allowing weight gain to determine his self-esteem.

Although the actor played “funny fat guy” characters who seemed unaware of others’ insults, inside he felt hurt. Alcohol became another way for Tyler to hide his low self-esteem.
And then came a true turning point.

‘I Knew It Was Time To Get Help’

In his late 30s, Tyler listened to his wife’s concern that his tendency to have only a protein shake or diet meal for dinner was sending an unhealthy message to his kids.

“I knew it was time to look into getting help,” said Labine.  More than three years later, the actor is celebrating his sobriety through a 12-step program. He also takes anti-anxiety medication and attends talk therapy sessions.

“I’m learning to accept, surrender and forgive, and I’m starting to look at myself as a more whole human being whose successes have nothing to do with weight,” added Tyler.

And the lesson has traveled from one generation to the next. The New Amsterdam actor shared that dinners with his family have become joyful.  “We talk, we eat the same tasty food, and it’s fun,” concluded Labine.

Watch more about Iggy’s experiences at New Amsterdam when the show next airs Tuesday at 10 p.m. ET/PT on NBC.