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Keira Knightley claims most of the women she auditions against are far smaller and skinnier than she is (as if that's remotely possible). The Pirates of the Caribbean star says, "Weight is a big issue in Hollywood because I'm twice the size, height and everything else, of most of the girls who are going in to see the director for a part. When you realize that I am, at my size, one of the largest actresses there, you start to think, 'I don't think it'd be healthy for me to stay here much longer.'"
Models strutting catwalks at London Fashion Week should provide a certificate attesting their good health, but there will be no outright ban on wafer-thin women, the British Fashion Council said on Friday. In its report, the council recommended models under 16 should be outlawed from London's catwalks. It said a medical certificate must be provided by September from doctors specializing in eating disorders. Spain and Italy have recommended banning models with a body mass index (BMI) of less than 18.5 from catwalks, but the expert panel behind the report rejected the use of the index, saying it was not an accurate measure of health. "We have considered this carefully and listened to a range of expert views. But we do not believe a focus on BMI provides the way forward," the report said. "We favor the alternative approach of promoting good health based on medical assessments of models participating in London Fashion Week." The report acknowledged there was a problem with eating disorders among models and recommended a health education and awareness program be set up. "During the investigation, evidence of the vulnerability of women in the modeling profession was startling and models are at a high risk of eating disorders," said the chair of the inquiry.
Crash actress Thandie Newton admits to a brief battle with an eating disorder in the September issue of the UK mag Easy Living. "I had terrible bulimia for about a year," the British actress says. "I've still got the scars on my knuckles from where I put my fingers down my throat." Newton says her eating issues started as a 14-year-old ballet student, and were heightened after a series of abusive relationships. "I'd been involved with this guy for a long time, he was much older than me and I felt a lot of shame about my sexual relationship with him," she says. "I would have these dinners with him and then go back to the flat and I'd throw up. Then I went out with someone who was emotionally abusive, criticizing me the whole time." After moving to LA to shoot a movie, Newton sought help. "I saw a therapist for the first time," she says. "After that first session, I never threw up again. I had made the connection between shame and self-abuse."
Star Jones Reynolds is finally admitting to having gastric bypass surgery - nearly four years after the fact. In the September issue of Glamour, Jones Reynolds says she chose only to admit she'd undergone a "medical intervention" because, says says, "First, I didn't know if the surgery would work. I had spent my entire adult life telling everyone I was fine with the way I looked. I never thought I'd have to explain it. But the complete truth is, I was scared of what people might think of me." In a first-person essay begun on August 19, 2003, Jones Reynolds writes, "I was so angry. How had I allowed myself to get to 307 pounds? Whenever I felt lonely, a Double Whopper with cheese became my friend. If I felt sad, six strips of bacon made me feel better... Even though I claimed to be just fine with my weight, I saw how other women [colleagues] were treated like the girlfriend, while I was treated like the good friend. To compensate for my insecurities, I spoke louder and ate more." Since the surgery, Jones Reynolds says she is working on having a positive self-image. "Every day I am learning to let go of my insecurities and acknowledge that I don't have all the answers, which is okay."
