It wasn’t too long ago that Lily Collins expressed her shock and grief when somebody complimented her for losing weight for her film, To The Bone in which she was to appear anorexic. “That is why the problem (anorexia) exists,” stated the actress who has battled anorexia in real life as well.
CultureVulture
Lily Collins talks about anorexia, models and how there is a need to start a conversation around eating disorders.
It wasn’t too long ago that Lily Collins expressed her shock and grief when somebody complimented her for losing weight for her film, To The Bone in which she was to appear anorexic. “That is why the problem (anorexia) exists,” stated the actress who has battled anorexia in real life as well.
But now, a week after the release of her thought provoking film which talks about anorexia, Collins has a lot more to say about eating disorders. “I don’t think we are starting the conversation,” she told The Hollywood Reporter, “but we are making it louder, which is very important.”
Speaking about the fashion industry, the model turned actress weighed in: “You do watch fashion shows and you do see extremely small girls walking down the runway, and a lot of them are really young and haven’t become women yet,” she said. “It’s like their body shape hasn’t changed. Some girls look like they’re about to pass out. I think there’s still a conversation to be had there about runway sizes.” Currently, runways are seeing the inclusion of plus sized models like Ashley Graham but that too is an exception, not the rule.
According to the star, the fashion industry could benefit from an emphasis on the health of models. “I think the BMI conversation was really important,” she replied when asked to comment on France’s regulations that runway models must have a body mass index of at least 18 and a doctor’s note to walk.
Collins further added that it’s frustrating to see people engaging in ill-informed discussions around eating disorders, especially when the public criticizes models or celebrities for being too thin. “I hate that because you just don’t know if someone is struggling. I was a victim of that when I was losing the weight for this movie,” she shared. “I was photographed looking a certain way, and all of a sudden it was like plastered everywhere, and I wasn’t allowed to talk about the movie yet.”
