“Pretty Little Liars” recurring guest star Jim Titus, who plays Officer Barry Maple, has shed an astonishing 60 pounds, according to today’s interview. The winter premiere of “Pretty Little Liars” begins on Jan. 8 with an opening sequence of a “hooded figure skateboarding through the streets of nighttime Rosewood” before being shown Hanna abruptly awaking, reported in the Jan. 11 issue of Entertainment Weekly which was released Jan 4.
Titus has played Officer Barry Maple since season one. When asked how the weight loss affects his role, Jim mentioned that it is just too soon to tell right now. He did say it was a pretty “awesome feeling when wardrobe had to take in my uniform!” He’s hoping writers will take notice. Before he was always the friendly cop, now with his transformation maybe the show writers will be inspired to take his character in another direction.
This isn’t the first police role Titus has had in his career. He has also played cops on “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” and “Without a Trace.” When asked how his weight factored into those roles Titus had this to say:
“Well, I'm 6'2" so I guess a certain authority is implied by that alone. I've played cops and thugs, at both ends of the weight spectrum. One thing I've noticed in TV, is that you don't see overweight detectives in my age range and ultimately I'd love the opportunity to be promoted from an actor who plays a lot of beat cops to an actor who plays a lot of detectives!”
Now that his look has changed, Titus hopes that with his new reintroduction to casting directors they’ll take notice. Jim says “There's a soldier role in an upcoming Sci-fi feature that I really want to do. I've met with the director, and actually shot some very early pre-production footage, but nothing is etched in stone yet.”
When asked how he got the recurring role on “Pretty Little Liars” Jim said he was trying for another role, which he didn’t get, when he met the casting directors for PLL. He was bummed he didn’t get the role, but later he received a call to audition for PLL, which was supposed to only be one episode. Two and a half years later he’s still making appearances. Titus says this is “the first role I’ve had where people will stop me in the supermarket and say, “Hey aren’t you that cop on Pretty Little Liars?”
So, how does Jim stay fit and trim on set?
“One of my biggest realizations was that I eat for entertainment. I always used to say, "If I didn't have taste buds, I wouldn't be overweight". I love exploring different flavors! I just never realized that was a form of emotional eating. Once I came to grips with that, it became easier to take the extra 5 seconds to think my choices through.”
When asked about his return on episode 3.17, Titus says he’s now allowed to spill the beans, but he did have this to say:
“My next appearance on PLL is the first time that Barry is seen inside the Rosewood Police Precinct, and you get to see a brief interaction between him and one of the detectives. I think deep inside Barry is a little envious of their position, so that provided some fun subtext to play with.”
Be sure to tune in to “Pretty Little Liars” on ABC Family Jan. 29 to see the return of Jim Titus as Barry Maple in the episode “Out of the Frying Pan, Into the Inferno.”
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More articles by Chrystal Mahan.
Update: Jim wants everyone to know that since publication, he met the scale for a 72 pound win!
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