Jennifer Lawrence, Jamie Lee Curtis, And More Celebrities Have Spoken Out About Being Body-Shamed

Let's be clear: body shaming is never acceptable, even if the target is a public figure. Even though this should be a universal guideline of politeness, people continue to criticize others' appearances, particularly celebrities'.
Even though social media has brought attention to the issue in recent years, celebrity body-shaming is nothing new. Working in an industry that is largely governed by a certain perception of beauty and body size, actors often face online trolling and criticism when they do not conform to the expected norm. The criticism is especially brutal for female actors. Did you know that top female actresses like Jamie Lee Curtis and Amanda Bynes have been body-shamed and have opened up about their bitter experiences in the media?
Not only them, here are 14 female actors who had their appearance infuriatingly demeaned on set. Let’s take a look at how these actors have been body-shamed and how they feel.

#1 Amanda Bynes

Source: Bauer-griffin / GC Images / Getty Images

In a recent Instagram post, Amanda Bynes wrote, "I once did a movie where the director told me that in certain lights, I looked like a monster."

#2 Margaret Cho

Source: Michael Tullberg / Getty Images

In the 1990s, ABC told Margaret Cho that she was "too overweight" to play herself. She said that she ended up in the ICU with kidney failure because she didn't eat.

#3 Jennifer Lawrence

Source: Taylor Hill / FilmMagic / Getty Images

Jennifer Lawrence said in 2017 that a producer once urged her to reduce 15 pounds in two weeks.

#4 Amy Schumer

Source: Jamie Mccarthy / Getty Images for Deadline

For her film, "Trainwreck", Amy Schumer was asked to lose weight. “The only change was that it was explained to me before I did that movie [was] that if you weigh over 140 pounds as a woman in Hollywood if you’re on the screen it will hurt people’s eyes,” she said back in 2016.

#5 Kate Beckinsale

Source: Matt Winkelmeyer / Getty Images

"There were diet plans and exercise regimens that [were] punishing" Kate Beckinsale revealed her experience in "Pearl Harbor". She couldn't understand why a 1940s nurse would need to exercise so much. It was just a completely different circumstance.
"There was a lot of panic and concern over ‘how on earth are we gonna make her attractive?" she remarked when asked why director Michael Bay didn't find Kate attractive enough to star in the film.

#6 Chloë Grace Moretz

Source: Kevin Winter / Getty Images

When  Chloë Grace Moretz was 15, and she was in her mid-20s, a male costar who was in his mid-20s body-shamed her. "This guy that was my love interest was like, 'I'd never date you in real life,' and I was like, 'What?' And he was like, 'Yeah, you're too big for me,'" she explained in 2017. "It was one of the only actors that ever made me cry on set."

#7 Melanie Lynskey

Source: Alberto E. Rodriguez / Getty Images

Melanie Lynskey said earlier this year that she was body-shamed on the set of "Yellowjackets" by a member of production: “They were asking me, ‘What do you plan to do? I’m sure the producers will get you a trainer. They’d love to help you with this.’"
Her co-stars Tawny Cypress, Christina Ricci, and Juliette Lewis ended up writing a letter to production on her behalf.

#8 Minnie Driver

Source: Mike Marsland / WireImage / Getty Images

When Harvey Weinstein produced "Good Will Hunting", Minnie Driver stated in 2017 that he informed her she was "just not fuckable". Despite Weinstein's claims that she wasn't "hot enough" for the character, she was nominated for an Academy Award for her performance.

#9 Lili Reinhart

Source: Amy Sussman / Getty Images

Earlier this month, Lili Reinhart posted on her Instagram story that a director once approached her before a take and advised, "Suck in your stomach a little bit." Unfortunately, she thinks about it a lot when she's filming a scene.

#10 Sophie Turner

Source: Bertrand Rindoff Petroff / Getty Images for Louis Vuitton

Sophie Turner has discussed the difficulties of being on film since she was a child, saying in 2017, "There are times when I have done jobs and they've told me that I have to lose weight, even when it has nothing to do with the character — it is so fucked up."

#11 Debra Messing

Source: Arturo Holmes / Getty Images

Director Alfonso Arau asked Debra Messing on the set of the 1995 film "A Walk in the Clouds", "How quickly can we get a plastic surgeon in here? Her nose is ruining my movie." She also said that the director forced her to perform a nude scene that she had not intended.

#12 Jamie Lee Curtis

Source: Stephane Cardinale / Corbis via Getty Images

Because of plastic surgery, Jamie Lee Curtis was administered Vicodin, which she became addicted to. She explained how a cameraman's remark influenced her decision to have surgery in 2019, saying, "We were shooting a scene in a courtroom with that kind of high, nasty fluorescent light, and it came around to my coverage in the scene, and [the cameraman] said, 'I’m not shooting her today. Her eyes are too puffy. "

"I was so mortified and so embarrassed and had just so much shame about it," she added.

#13 Emma Thompson

Source: Samir Hussein / WireImage / Getty Images

Emma Thompson revealed that she was on the verge of quitting the 2008 film "Brideshead Revisited" after her female co-star was told she needed to reduce weight.

#14 Jessie Cave

Source: David M. Benett / Getty Images

Last year, Jessie Cave recalled how a costume director once grabbed her stomach, “Which was just horrible. And I laughed. You’re like [she puts on a placating voice]: ‘Oh, you’re hurting me. It’s fine.’” As a result, Jessie will now go into fittings feeling "terrified": "I’m prepared to be told something unkind."