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Emma Thompson on the brutally honest truth about how Hollywood stays thin

The actress almost quit Brideshead Revisited because a co-star was asked to lose weight

Jack Shepherd
Wednesday 29 March 2017 11:24 BST
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Emma Thompson on the truth about how Hollywood stays thin

Hollywood promoting unhealthy body images isn’t exactly something new. However, hearing national treasure Emma Thompson talk about the ever growing problem is startling.

Speaking on Swedish chat show Skavlan, the 57-year-old called the pressure put on actresses to be thin “evil,” adding that the industry is only getting worse.

"The anorexia - there are so many kids, girls and boys now, and actresses who are very, very thin, who are into their 30s, simply don't eat,” she said.

Thompson pointed to the 2008 British film Brideshead Revisited, saying she threatened to quit after one co-star was told to lost weight.

”The producers said to her, 'Will you lose some weight?'. She was absolutely exquisite. I said to them, 'If you speak to her about this again, on any level, I will leave this picture. You are never to do that’. It's evil, what's happening, what's going on out there, and it's getting worse.”

Talking candidly about never moving to Los Angeles, Thompson admitted she felt she was deemed "too fat" when she visited, concluding: "It is a strange place and I couldn't live there.”

Earlier this year, many people were outraged by Khloe Kardashian's Protein World advert that appeared at various tube stations.

The advert features a picture of Kardashian wearing a leotard to promote the company’s 30-day weight-loss challenge. It asked, “Can you keep up with a Kardashian?”

“People taking the Tube should not have to be bombarded with adverts that imply their bodies aren’t good enough,” Green Assembly member Caroline Russell said at the time.

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