Joel Kim Booster is known for comic timing and a career that includes standout moments in Fire Island, Industry and the new Scrubs reboot, where he plays Dr. Eric Park. Beyond on-screen roles, he has become vocal about how he manages diet, fitness and intimacy. In interviews he frames many routines as practical solutions: a long-standing commitment to intermittent fasting, an affinity for late-night snacking that coincides with smoking weed, and a clear definition of what his marriage means to him.
His public voice ties lifestyle choices to lived realities: being a gay man in the spotlight, navigating a non-monogamous marriage with John Michael Sudsina, and accepting the tension between private security and public judgment. This piece unpacks his daily habits, his relationship rules, and his reflections on aging and cultural pressures that shape how men look and feel.
Daily routines: fasting, workouts and snacking
Booster practices intermittent fasting, following an eating window similar to an 16:8 schedule, often delaying his first meal until mid-afternoon. He says the approach helps him maintain a balance between body fat and muscle without tracking every macro. His workouts are frequently fasted workouts, done before he breaks his fast, and he trains four to five times weekly to keep flexibility to indulge. The routine is pragmatic: exercise provides room to enjoy frequent indulgences—fast food favorites like Panda Express, Subway and Chipotle—while still feeling fit.
Snacks, supplements and cooking
At night he admits to being a heavy cannabis user: after about 6 p.m. he becomes more likely to snack, which led him to curate healthier options at home via services like Thrive Market. He favors choices such as fried chicken skin as a low-carb chip alternative, fruit leather instead of candy, and protein ice cream. He also emphasizes whole-food protein over heavy reliance on shakes from earlier times when cost-efficiency mattered more. During the writers’ and actors’ strikes he rediscovered cooking as a non-commercial hobby and now makes a signature six-hour ragu to share with his husband.
Relationship model and how it affects attraction
Booster describes his marriage as non-monogamous but not polyamorous; the intimacy he seeks outside the relationship is primarily sexual and recreational. He underscores a key distinction: while his husband loves him for many attributes beyond appearance, casual encounters tend to emphasize physical looks. That, he argues, intensifies exposure to cultural body standards—especially within gay male communities—where appearance is often the dominant currency in hookups.
Visibility, roles and public perception
Despite roles that sometimes showcase his physique—like the speedo moment in Fire Island or the sauna scene in Industry—Booster says acting generally places less constant pressure on his body than gay social scenes do. Characters like Nicholas or Dr. Park can carry charm without being all about physical display; however, when cruising or hooking up, the evaluation narrows to visual criteria. That reality, he notes, makes gay men less forgiving about deviations from body ideals compared with other groups.
Aging, looksmaxxing and cultural standards
Turning 38 prompted Booster to reflect on stamina, recovery and how the body responds differently than in his twenties. He mentions slower recovery and lower energy, and he candidly says he hopes 38 is middle age. On cosmetic interventions he reports no plans, noting that most of his anxiety around aging is existential rather than purely aesthetic. He also observes how modern media—especially the hyper-muscular Marvel era—has shifted expectations of what a fit male body should look like.
On the phenomenon of looksmaxxing he is ambivalent. He recognizes that men are now subject to pressures women have long faced, which leads to both positive self-care and worrying extremes. Using the example of Tobey Maguire’s impact on earlier generations and current Marvel physiques as a new reference point, Booster frames these trends as cultural developments that can lead to body dysmorphia, particularly within gay communities.
Final thoughts: balance and authenticity
Booster’s approach blends discipline with allowance—structured fasting and regular training, paired with frequent cheat meals and a recreational approach to outside partners. He leans into authenticity: cooking to reclaim hobbies, being open about ADHD and Adderall use during the day, and naming how relationship security changes his anxieties about appearance. His message is pragmatic: maintain health and pleasure without letting cultural ideals dictate self-worth.