OK so I am a size 8/10 i know that's not fat but does any one else feel the pressure to be skinner then they are?
basically I told some a person who came in to the pub where i work that i was an actress and he said 'i thought you had to be anerexically thin to look good on camera!' it has just nagging in the back of my head so does any one else feel this pressure to stay thin not because the camera adds 10 punds or whatever but with society in general?
Also what do toy guys consider to be too skinny? for me it is a UK size 4
Any one know any nice tasting food that is good for you except fruit and veg?
Well! Putting aside the normal female neuroses.....
I have been assured by a camera woman who really knows her stuff (worked on Star Wars....) that these days the Camera doesn't put on 10 pounds unless that is what they are actually going for.
Also there are plenty of parts for non skinny women. Just turn on your telly. Admittedly it is rarely the young female lead but the more interesting character roles. Also bear in mind that most actresses in their 20's are pretty slim so there is less competition for the larger ladies for fight against.
What on earth are you talking about, Leila? Some idiot who has no conception of who you really are says he 'thinks' actresses should be 'skinny' to succeed? Where does he get his crappy information from? The tabloids?
He has absolutely NO conception of the business whatsoever!
There are NO skinny people on tv, film or stage unless they are playing hopeless sufferers of serious illnesses or concentration camp prisoners.
Ask Anne Badlands, Judi Dench, Helen Mirren, Joanna Lumley in fact any of the top actresses what they think of that ignorant pillock's comments and they'll snort in disgust!
Build is what makes your character. You live with it as a part of your psyche. It helps you to be the charascter you want to portray.
Falstaff is known as the bumbling comedic character on the outside but more importantly it hides the scheming arrogance and blatant criminality beneath when played properly, for example.
Fat! You are not fat! There is a massive difference between what they with little vocabulary or intelligence or human understanding call 'fat' and the truth. Anorexics call a pinch on their waist 'fat'.
All this twaddle about 'the camera putting on ten pounds' is rubbish. A round curve is far more appealing to the camera than sharp angles.
Don't take anything this scabrous individual pours forth from his scum infested brain as anything near the truth.He would be better served speaking from another orifice at the other end of his body.
there is no such thing as too-fat or too-thin, each person has their own look that works for them.
personally (my own insecurity here) i feel overweight which is why i just started a Detox! lol I'm not obese or even chubby, but my stomach sticks out. i guess situps could help too.
Its not a good thing they feel they have the "right" to say that to you.
If you want to keep trim, then do so, but not to fit some standard.
I persoanlly got into a mode at a point where I felt I had to look all well built like other guys etc- and al that happened was it increased my insecurities. Im not a thin guy but I have a good defined look I think....
it will drive you insane if you go down that road... and disconnect you from our mind and emotions and rigger eery insecurity you already have.
Insist that you will not let that commwent upset you and let it go-- its a dangerous road if you take that to heart.
Well said Alan. What a pillock. Mind you, I always feel too fat these days but it's got nothing to do with how the camera will make me look or how I can portray a character but everything to do with the fact that I've put on over a stone since I gave up smoking a year ago and nothing I do seems to shift it! Hey ho!
I think the comments so far have been really good. It's not right that people have this image of the eternally skinny woman, and really wrong that they think it's ok to put it on you.
I do know where you're coming from though. There's this real sense of what you 'should' look like. Even if you are skinny you'll probably find that you're too short/tall, fair/dark, big chested/small chested. That's the big downside of being in a profession so closely linked with the concept of the 'perfect person'. Everyone has a different idea of what it means and everyone is very quick to impose that on you.
Mind you, from the casting calls I've read I don't think it hurts if you've got a bmi of 19 or less (a rubbish measurement I know, but still, it's gets asked for often enough). At the very least you can go for all the adverts that are happy with normal men and children but specifically request model women.
Actually, something's just occurred to me. Has anyone ever done any kind of survey on women's shapes and sizes in relation to work? Would it be possible, for example, to find out the dress sizes, weights, heights etc of all the women with speaking roles on a particular TV channel or in a theatre over the space of a couple of months to see the extent to which size and shape really do affect you chances. Since the average dress size in Britain is a 16 it would be very interesting to see what the average dress size of a woman on TV is.
Alice. Too fussy! There is, in all things, a difference thank goodness!
If EVERYONE was bmi equal in whatever profession I would be searching for the cloning researcher and wringing their bloddy necks!
Everyone is different. Let's rejoice in that simple fact. If evryone were the same it would mean it would be much harder to get an acting job, wouldn't it? How would they tell us apart?
No such thing as a 'healthy weight' a proper bmi (body mass index), who the bloody hell thought that up? Weightwatchers, that's who! Keep people off balance with crap false nomenclature and they will buy what you're selling.
Who is to say that I'm fat, you're fat or you're too skinny? Who is the judge? Is the judge too fat? Who makes these ridiculous statements? If it hasn't got a nickname it ain't newsworthy! 'Joy Riding' became 'fashionable' for kids to do when tabloids coined the phrase. 'Happy slapping' the same.
All totall bulls**t! We take far too much notice of programming dialogue from so many sources who can tell what is correct or what is made up to improve some big company's profits?
BMI is an airline as far as I'm concerned.
It's genetic make up that is the difference not diet! I can eat a fifteen inch pizza and not put on an ounce. Some of my pals look at a pie and put on a stone!!
Rant continues after short breath!
Hello.
The guy who said you were fat is obviously single, ( Or i hope he is from his attitude.)
Looking at your picture, you are tiny...
Alot of girls can only dream of having a figure like yours!! ( I personally think its great to be all different sizes.) It would be rubbish if everyone was the same!! Take care, and don't listen to him. x
More to the point. The guy clearly doesn't know anything about the industry. ..........It is even possible that he was trying to chat you up. Very badly......
I hope you're just having a 'fat day' ratehr than a fat week, month or year! Occasionally we all feel insecure about our figure - I have a traditionally athletic build, but the specifics are far from athletic at the moment - flu and bugger all exercise is not a great combo. We may all notice more beautiful slim people on TV, but the camera is keenest on those who are right for their natural body size and shape. People are just different shapes - and accepting this is more important for actors than say pop singers or models. Far better to be a character actor that works a lot than someone picked for their caatwalk looks who gets big roles but once in a blue moon. And even then what is required for a lead role can vary hugely from one production to another. And lastly - never worry about the opinons of someone unconnected to the industry unless they show an uncommon level of insight. Most people in this world have enough touble grasping the basic concepts of their own area of work.....
Hey thanks guys! I glad other people have fat days and yeah that guy was a bit of a jerk he came in with a women for a meal and he spent the whole time on his mobile phone talking to someone else, really just needed to have a moan really but I am glad that we are all in the same boat I think part of the problem is that all well most of the actors that are in the spotlight at the moment and are all slim, But I have to admit I do feel pressrure to keep slim mainly because I have such a young playing age and for some reason people do not associate teenagers and being bigger then a size 12!
Unfortunately I have found that I have been turned down twice this year for really good commercials because I was too fat. I was told I need to lose a few pounds and send in the photo's when I had lost the weight.In my experience I have found it has gone against me this year..
Having said that you definately DO NOT need to lose weight. but I am going to try to lose a stone and see if it helps, I will let you know the outcome.
A woman came to our class in the last year of drama school and told nearly all of the girls to lose weight if they 'ever wanted to make it in the industry.' Some of them were devastated - one stopped eating altogether and collapsed . I was told I was too big. I'm a size 12, yes with an extra bit of chub around the old tummy area, but we're actresses. Not models. We're supposed to portray real people, and real people aren't all size four! I know exactly what you mean, sometimes the whole concentration on looks can make you really down, but for what it's worth you're all gorgeous. It's an old cliche, but look at Kate Winslet - the woman is beautiful, and in the early days when she was a size 12 - 14 she was still playing leading roles and knocking all those skinny wee moos off their pedestals.
I would just like to point out that I've eaten an entire Lindt bunny.
Emily thats an awfull story I cant believe that woman said that to you all! I'm quite skinny but I dont think it helps me get more work. I find I often get lumbered into model type castings and I do not have the face of a model so I dont get the parts. I think unless you look like a model in all ways there is no benefits to being really skinny, most commercials want girls next door and the average girl is not super skinny. I'm all for eating more biscuits! x
this is not in any way directed at you, but it IS a reality that certain roles do require a certian look and also a weight- there ae some roles that specifically do state that there is a weight or look and many people wont play the role cos they just dont look that way-
ie I wont play Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar amed Desire, as I dnt have a muscular build to that degree- if i WANT to, and want to at least be considerd- then I need to get to the gym and pump iron...
the same wth you- what do you WANT? If its to be seen that way- then consider what you are wanting out of your career-- and how to achieev it-- but I will say that this is a personal choice- not from a male dominated idea of what a "pretty actress" looks like- and sadly, the industry IS very anti women.
Of course, blake's right.....its a fundamental truism. In much the same way that I'll never really get to play a nazi or bertie wooster due to the shape of my features and my skin tone.....nothing I can do, so no point worrying - focus on what parts fit you, and what's within your range. And take comfort from the the knowledge that in the UK the industry is rather more forgiving to those of us who aren't 'gorgeous' than all the US shows we get on channel 4 and channel 5!
The point I am trying to make is that non actors have this opinion that all actors should be skinny!
obviously you have to had a certain build for certain parts as that has what the play wright has stated or it is which people which automatically associate with the character through there mannerisms.
I think this stereotype is wrong, I mean the only reason why people associate actors with being slim is because certain hollywood stars are constantly checking in to re hab for eating disorders. Variety is great as in real life not everyone is the same size.
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