Two and a Half Men and Togetherness star Melanie Lynskey has spoken out about her personal struggle with Hollywood’s exacting beauty standards, revealing she even lost some of her hair during her struggle to change her body.
“I was losing my mind trying to conform to something that was not physically possible for me,” the 38-year-old told People in a new interview.
“I was very unwell for a long time. I had eating issues and at a certain point I was like, ‘I’m not going to survive’ – not like I was on death’s door or anything, but I was so unhappy and my hair was falling out.”
The actress, who first found fame in Peter Jackson’s Heavenly Creatures film alongside Kate Winslet, says she eventually had to learn to love her body the way it was.
“I was like, ‘I just need to look the way I’m supposed to look’ and have faith that people are going to want to put someone in a film or on a show who looks like this,” she told People.
Since learning to love her body, Melanie has also become a passionate advocate for how women of different shapes and sizes are portrayed. In the past, the star revealed she turned down roles that would have stereotyped her size – including the notorious “fat friend” character.
“I just reject it so intensely,” she told People.
Melanie – pictured here at a film festival premiere of her new movie Rainbow Time – says she’s turned down roles that would have portrayed her as the “fat friend”. Photo: Getty
