Andy Lindberg in Stand by Me. (Columbia Pictures)

In the annals of classic cinematic vomiters — a list that includes such formidable chunk-blowers as Mr. Creosote in The Meaning of Life and Regan MacNeil in The Exorcist— one name still stands supreme: Lard-Ass Hogan. Thirty years ago this summer, this portly hero showed moviegoers what an epic Barf-o-Rama looks like in the 1986 coming-of-age classic, Stand by Me, directed by Rob Reiner. The brainchild of fledgling author Gordie Lachance (Wil Wheaton) — the fictional stand-in for Stephen King, who wrote The Body, the novella the film is based on — Lard-Ass endures years of taunts and abuse from his friends and neighbors, due to his sizable appetite and prodigious gut. All the while, he waits for the perfect moment to exact his revenge, and finds it during his small town’s annual pie-eating contest. With the aid of a bottle of castor oil, a raw egg and a bottomless stack of pies, Lard-Ass turns an ordinary tent into a blueberry-colored vomitorium.

Related: Read Yahoo Movies’ tribute to the summer of ’86

The Lard-Ass sequence is one of the defining moments of Stand by Me, and continues to reduce audiences of all ages to gasping laughter. But not everyone emerged from the Barf-o-Rama unscathed. “To this day, I can’t eat blueberry pie,” actor Andy Lindberg, who brought Lard-Ass to life onscreen, admits to Yahoo Movies. “And there are certain pastries that trigger my gag reflex, because they taste like whatever that blueberry pie filling was.” Fortunately, the experience didn’t cause Lindberg to lose his appetite for acting. And when he’s not auditioning for roles, he hosts the podcast Kick Ass Oregon History, based in the state where Stand by Me was shot three decades ago. We spoke with Lindberg about the legacy of Lard-Ass, and whether he’s ever gotten Stephen King’s seal of approval.

I first saw Stand by Me when I was 8 years old, and Lard-Ass made an instant impression on me. It was this perfect piece of juvenile humor dropped in this very serious coming-of-age story. Did it strike you as hilarious when you first read the scene on the page?

During the audition process, I had figured out the movie was going to be based on The Body. So I read the book, and remember getting to the Lard-Ass scene and really enjoying it. The way I have come to see it is that it’s the calm before the storm; it’s a little bit of comic relief before the story goes to its darkest place. Because the next morning, they find the dead body, and events just keep moving towards the dark conclusion. So having that bright spot in the arc of the story helps make it stand out more. It’s so childlike and goofy, it establishes the contrast with the loss of childhood in the last chapter of the movie. And because you’ve had this moment to laugh and relax, you’re more emotionally available for the things that happen afterwards.

Related: ‘Stand by Me’ Oral History: Rob Reiner and Cast on River Phoenix and How Coming-of-Age Classic Almost Didn’t Happen

Growing up, I was one of my school’s fat kids, so Lard-Ass’s revenge always resonated with me. Was it easy for you to get into the mindset of being one of those outcast social groups in the school ecosystem?

No, but it was very easy to get into that headspace. When I read the script, I skipped over the humor of the sequence and went straight to sympathizing with Lard-Ass, and identifying with the fact that he’s put upon and made fun of. I went to a high school across town from my neighborhood, so I only knew a few people. And these were the days where you could be mercilessly bullied at school, and it was just treated as: “Oh, that’s what people do.” It was very easy to identify with the way that he felt. The irony is that because I played Lard-Ass, after the summer of 1986, I was a celebrity in my high school! Everyone claimed to know me so they could be associated with the film, so I ended up benefiting from it!

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What sort of padding was required to transform you into Lard-Ass?

They either built or rented a two-piece fat suit. I would put on legs with suspenders and then a big padded top. They had Size 60 Levi’s jeans that I would wear when I had the suit on. That padding made it a more comfortable role to do. People sometimes asked me, “Weren’t you embarrassed [to be that fat]?” And I was like, “No, it was all pretend.” And when people really used to have a go at me, my response was, “Well, what beloved American movie were you in?” And unless they were one of those Goonies kids, we didn’t need to talk. [Laughs.]