Kenan Thompson Writes He “Felt Exploited A Little” While Filming The 1995 Comedy ‘Heavyweights’

Kenan Thompson is opening up about his struggles with body image in his new memoir, When I Was Your Age: Life Lessons, Funny Stories & Questionable Parenting Advice from a Professional Clown.

According to People, the star writes that he was “exploited a little” while filming the 1995 comedy Heavyweights, in which he played Roy, a camper at a weight loss camp for boys called “Camp Hope.”

However, in the new novel — which was released today — Thompson shares that he convinced himself that “wasn’t happening” to him. Additionally, while reflecting on his time filming the 2008 comedy Wieners, he reveals that he “hated” needing to take off his shirt.

Delving into his hit Nickelodeon comedy All That, he explains that “everyone was designated a role during sketch casting.”

“Kel [Mitchell] was the smooth talker, Josh [Server] was the heartthrob, and I was the huggable cutie, and I was aight with that,” he shares in the book.

He also recalls being at his “heaviest moment” in a past Saturday Night Live sketch, noting that it’s “always hard to rewatch.”

In the wake of his 20th season on the NBC sketch comedy show, Thompson writes that he nearly quit toward the beginning of his time on the show, citing “rookie mistakes” and being “donut-ed” — being given no airtime — as cause for his confidence to “sink to an all-time low.”

“I was famous enough that people were trying to follow me off the subway, but I couldn’t get on the show,” he pens, eventually noting that Maya Rudolph helped convince him to stay by telling him he was ready.

Other topics tackled in the new book include his former fallout with Mitchell, his previous marriage to Christina Evangeline, and dishing out his thoughts on some former celebrity SNL hosts, per People.

Appearing on The Today Show on Monday morning (Dec. 4), Thompson told Hoda Kotb that he “had to tell the whole story from A to Z,” highlighting that “99%” of himself and his life story is conveyed in the book.

“It’s all me,” he added.

When I Was Your Age is out now.