We like John Goodman so much we take him as we find him: hefty or slim, funny or creepy. And these days, he's walking around having dropped a lot of weight ... and showing up in a new film, "10 Cloverfield Lane," giving off a surprisingly effective scary vibe.

TODAY's Savannah Guthrie got to the bottom of both things Wednesday, despite the distraction of unrelated show guest Sacha Baron Cohen walking around off-camera, handcuffed to Matt Lauer.

First off, as we noted last week, Goodman is looking great after losing a bunch of weight (he won't say how much) recently. But he's a little self-deprecating about whether it will stay off (something we can definitely empathize with).

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"Just wait another six months and I'll be back to normal," he noted. "That's the way it usually goes. I have no idea how much I lost. I didn't weigh myself. Clothes fit nice and I can go to nice clothing stores and buy too much stuff."

MORE: Lookin' good, John Goodman! Actor continues to look slim thanks to new diet

Meanwhile, there's another recent change in Goodman — that is, his dark turn in "10 Cloverfield Lane," where he plays a survivalist who may or may not have kidnapped a woman into his bunker under the guise of saving her from a mysterious threat.

Those eyes!

"I tuned down my natural creepiness a little bit for this movie," he noted, offering up some "creepy guy eyes." "I can't get away with nothin'."

So if he were stuck in a bunker, what's the one thing Goodman would want to have on hand? "Preparation H," he joked, then laughed. "It's just the first thing that popped into my head. My iPod. I gotta have my music."

MORE: John Goodman and Matt Lauer bond over baldness and teddy bear talk

We completely understand!

"10 Cloverfield Lane" opens in theaters on March 11.

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