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<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="15428932" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="rich-rotella" source="Orion">Rich Rotella</keyword>, 38, is an actor who had limb-lengthening surgery to advance his career.</li><li>He says it added 3 inches to his height and boosted his confidence, but it was painful. </li></ul><p><em>This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with <a href="https://www.instagram.com/richrotellaofficial/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Rich Rotella</a>, a 38-year-old actor from Los Angeles, about his experience having leg-lengthening surgery to get ahead in his career. It has been edited for length and clarity. </em></p><p>I've always felt the need to be taller, even as a teenager. I was 5-foot-5 and felt like I paled in comparison to my peers, so my mother and I sought medical advice from a doctor in Frederick County, Maryland, where I lived at the time. The doctor recommended a variety of options to boost my height, one of which included a growth hormone that I didn't end up taking.</p><p>I decided to wait and see if I'd undergo a late-puberty growth spurt, but in 1998, when I was 13 years old, I broke my arm playing basketball with my brothers and an X-ray showed that my growth plates were sealed. My doctor told me I wasn't going to grow any taller than 5-foot-5. This was quite frustrating, but I tried to move forward. </p><h2>I considered getting leg-lengthening surgery in 2013, but it seemed too expensive</h2><p>I first thought about getting surgery in 2013, but I was married, and according to my research, the surgery cost more than $100,000. It didn't seem plausible to spend that kind of money at the time.</p><p><a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3706252/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">I've been an actor in Hollywood</a> since 2009 and have worked with a handful of celebrities, from <keyword id="100042" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="betty-white" source="Orion">Betty White</keyword> to <keyword id="6238130" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="mindy-sterling" source="Orion">Mindy Sterling</keyword>, and talented filmmakers. Over time, it seemed like I was stuck in the sidekick role. So in 2019, on the eve of my 10th anniversary in Hollywood, I asked some directors and filmmakers to share their honest opinions about my career. They told me I hadn't been able to get lead roles because of my height.</p><p>Lead actors are typically 5-foot-8 and up, they told me. This came as a shock, and I felt like I was knocked down a few pegs. I took some time to mull it over — then the pandemic happened. My feelings felt trivial in comparison to what was happening in the world. </p><h2>The next step was picking my surgeon</h2><p>In October 2020, I came across the YouTube channel <a href="https://www.youtube.com/c/Cyborg4Life">"Cyborg 4 Life,"</a> dedicated entirely to information on cosmetic limb-lengthening and limb discrepancies. After going through all of the videos, I was impressed and decided to message the creator, <keyword id="15428931" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="victor-egonu" source="Orion">Victor Egonu</keyword>, with the hope of collaborating on a documentary about my journey having the surgery.</p><p>We hit it off and proposed our idea to <a href="https://www.nuvasive.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NuVasive</a>, the hardware company responsible for making the equipment used in the surgery. After a series of discussions, the company came on board and played a significant role in providing the hardware for the procedure, which helped the documentary move forward.</p><p>I chose Dr. <keyword id="15428933" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="dror-paley" source="Orion">Dror Paley</keyword> of the<a href="https://paleyinstitute.org/#/"> Paley Institute</a> in West Palm Beach, Florida, as my surgeon. He'd already done more <a href="https://paleyinstitute.org/blog/physicians/dror-paley/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">than 20,000 surgeries,</a> and I knew I could count on him to do wonders.</p><div type="image" title="Rich Rotella looking at an X-ray of himself after his surgery." height="1387" width="1850" msid="95286162" hostid="261"></div><p>Throughout the process, I kept my intentions a secret. Months before the surgery, which took place in April 2022, I shared my plans with my girlfriend. I'd started dating her after getting a divorce. She was the only one I told before going in. </p><h2>You go into surgery perfectly healthy and wake up with broken legs</h2><p>After surgery, the institute required a three-month rest period at their facility, where you work with a physical therapist five times a week to regrow your bones from scratch. The surgery itself took four hours, but the recovery is the most time-consuming part — it's a slow, painful process. My mobility was severely limited and I was on strong medication. </p><p>The price of the procedure depends on the method you choose and if physical therapy is included. I chose to do a femoral surgery, or above the knees, and ended up spending more than $100,000. My insurance didn't cover the surgery, but I'd recommend that people include physical-therapy sessions in their cost analysis. I increased my height by 3 inches, going from 5-foot-5 to 5-foot-8.</p><p><em></em></p><div type="image" title="Rich Rotella in a wheelchair after his limb-lengthening surgery." height="746" width="995" msid="95286163" hostid="261"></div><p>Immediately after the surgery, I sent a mass email to my family and friends informing them of my decision. I received mixed reactions, but a lot of people questioned my judgment.</p><h2><strong>It's an unbelievably painful experience </strong></h2><p>This was one of the hardest things I've done in my life. Your bone grows back slowly: A device extends the rods in your legs by about 1 millimeter a day.</p><p>You have to be committed to the process: Do intensive research on the type of procedure you want and the recovery process, meet the healthcare practitioners who will work with you, and keep up every step of the way. </p><div type="image" title="Rich Rotella on a bike machine during his rehab from limb-lengthening surgery." height="1382" width="1842" msid="95286164" hostid="261"></div><p>For professionals looking to do this, it's essential to have a backup plan in place. This is something that can really affect your career, because you'll be unable to work for months. And you can't do it alone. Luckily, I had the help of my girlfriend to smooth out the journey.</p><h2><strong>This surgery has boosted my confidence for auditions</strong></h2><p>I'm currently working on <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt22383626/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the documentary</a>, which is in post-production with a planned release in 2024.  I'm also starting to look for opportunities to get in touch with executives from major studios in the hopes of selling the rights to my story. In the meantime, I have several other films that I'm looking to work on.</p><p>I don't pay heed to negative reactions that I've gotten from the people around me who still think I was wrong to do this, because limb-lengthening surgery is just like any other cosmetic surgery. This is something I've wanted for myself all my life, and even if my career in Hollywood didn't exist, I believe I still would've done it.</p><p><strong><em>Correction: November 4, 2022 </em></strong><em>— An earlier version of this story misstated when Rich Rotella broke his arm as well as how old he was. He broke it in 1998 at 13 years old, not 2002 at 17 years old.</em></p><p><em>Have you gotten cosmetic surgery to advance your career? Email mlogan@insider.com</em></p>

I spent $100,000 on leg-lengthening surgery to help my career. It was unbelievably painful, but I have no regrets.

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="11899319" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="rob-lowe" source="Orion">Rob Lowe</keyword> reprised his role as the "<keyword id="11974700" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="austin-powers" source="Orion">Austin Powers</keyword>" villain Number 2 in a new <keyword id="13125117" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="super-bowl-ad" source="Orion">Super Bowl ad</keyword>. </li><li>Promoting <keyword id="12300412" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="atkins" source="Orion">Atkins</keyword> protein chips, he told Insider he gets "starstruck" watching Mike Myers play Dr. Evil.</li></ul><p>When Insider spoke to Rob Lowe on Wednesday, he was as excited for the world to see the new <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/crypto-esports-electric-vehicles-will-reign-supreme-in-super-bowl-2022-1">Super Bowl ad</a> that reunited him with Mike Myers and more of his "Austin Powers" costars as fans were to finally see it. </p><p>"I'm almost starstruck when Mike is Dr. Evil," Lowe told Insider during an interview to promote his <a href="https://www.atkins.com/products/atkins-protein-chips">partnership with Atkins</a> for their new line of protein chips. "I just love being around him." </p><p>Lowe reprises his role as the young version of Dr. Evil's henchman Number 2 in <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HoqiQtc79CQ">a 60-second ad for General Motors</a> that was released on Thursday morning and will play during Sunday's <keyword id="12217426" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="super-bowl" source="Orion">Super Bowl</keyword> LVI.</p><p>In the #EVerybodyIn ad, which also features the return of Seth Green as Dr. Evil's son, Scott Evil, and Mindy Sterling as Frau Farbissina, Dr. Evil gets an eco-conscious rebrand as Dr. EV-il (as in electric vehicles) and vows to take over GM to help save the environment — so <em>he</em> can be the world's biggest threat instead of climate change.</p><p>"We just laughed. And then we were like, 'Okay, how many of these funny jokes are actually going to make it into a GM commercial that's 60 seconds long?'" he said. "So there's a lot of great stuff, I think, in the long-form 90 second version, which will be on the internet, that I'm excited about." </p><p>He said the Dr. Evil ad is "just designed to make you smile. That's good news for football fans, because the reality is, either the <a href="https://www.insider.com/rams-bengals-super-bowl-lvi-when-where-spread-2022-1">Los Angeles Rams or the Cincinnati Bengals</a> are going to lose the game, so at least one group of fans are going to be upset.</p><p>As for Lowe, he'll be watching the game in-person, and he'll probably be smiling no matter the outcome.</p><div type="image" title="Rob Lowe wearing dark blue smiling." height="1797" width="2397" msid="89489783" hostid="261"></div><p>The "9-1-1: Lone Star" actor became <a href="https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/rob-lowe-gets-roasted-on-twitter-for-wearing-an-nfl-logo-hat-to-nfc-championship-game/">a meme on social media in 2020</a> when he chose to wear a hat promoting the NFL to the 2020 NFC finals instead of choosing a side between the San Francisco 49ers and the Green Bay Packers. </p><p>"I'm a Rams fan, so I'm super happy about that. And my favorite player in the league though, is Joe Burrow, who's the Bengals quarterback," he told Insider on Wednesday. "Either way I'm going to be happy." </p><p>Lowe is also trying to plan out his snacks for the game ahead of time, even while watching from the stands.</p><p>"And you know how security is, but I'm going to try to <a href="https://www.insider.com/rob-lowe-low-carb-atkins-diet-for-decades-2021-5">smuggle my new Atkins Protein Chips</a> in if I can, because you gotta snack when you watch the game," he said.</p><p><strong>Check out the longer 90-second version of GM's Dr. EV-il commercial below:</strong></p>

Rob Lowe reveals what it was like reuniting with Mike Myers for their new Dr. Evil Super Bowl commercial: 'I'm almost starstruck'

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I spent $100,000 on leg-lengthening surgery to help my career. It was unbelievably painful, but I have no regrets.

Victoria Goldiee

Rob Lowe reveals what it was like reuniting with Mike Myers for their new Dr. Evil Super Bowl commercial: 'I'm almost starstruck'

Esme Mazzeo

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