Are most actresses very very slim in real life?

[Mitford1789]

I saw a well known actress a few days ago, standing behind her in the queue for a coffee. She was dressed down, however was clearly very pretty in person. However I was taken aback by how slim she was. I would say she was slightly taller than average, not a tiny person if you know what I mean. But so so slim. Do you think most famous actresses/singers etc are like this? Maybe I’m very naive.

A US size 0 is equivalent to an 8 or 10 year old child though

Google says different. These are pretty healthy measurements for a 5' - 5'2" tall woman.

I have the type of body shape that has always been described as "skinny". I met Nicole Kidman about 20 years ago when I was around 19 and particularly thin and I looked like I could have eaten her. She was tall and very, very thin.

I think it is important to distinguish between (the vast minority) of people who are naturally very slim and the film industry that puts pressure on women to be a size that they can only achieve through excessive dieting and exercise. Even if, for argument's sake, every famous actress happens to be one of these naturally small people, why are they the only ones being cast? What about people with different body shapes but just as much, if not more, talent?

One of my DDs has aspirations to be an actress. Her drama teacher has suggested putting her up for some adverts. One of the many reasons I have said no way is that I don't want her to be exposed to the culture of needing to be excessively thin.

Hysteria about being "the same size as an 8-yr old child!!" isn't helpful.

24inch waist is a perfectly healthy, normal size for an adult woman. Not thin and not fat. Of course a 24inch waist is not achievable for everyone but acting like 24ins is outrageously skinny and child-like is just nonsense. For a long time 34-24-34 was considered the standard 'desirable' measurement for a woman. That is not "being the size of a small child!"

On the other hand it's pretty clear that many women in the public eye (talking about women who are much smaller than 24ins) are clearly not naturally that skinny, and it's wrong and disturbing to act as though women aren't under enormous pressure to starve themselves. Kate Middleton looks 30lbs lighter and to have a completely different body type to when she was an early 20something and she was hardy fat then. It's very unusual for a woman approaching 40 to be so much thinner than during her college years, unless she was very overweight then. Kate looks utterly emaciated.

24inch waist is a perfectly healthy, normal size for an adult woman.

Not for me at my height or many of my modelling peers hence the cotton wool, cigarettes, not eating.

I became pregnant in 2005 with a bmi of 16.1.

Pregnancy does not preclude a fucked up relationship with food and your own body.

This is a deliberately vague photo so as not to be outing.
Make no mistake I was very, very ill here and yet I fell pregnant about two weeks later.

I'm about the same height as Kate Middleton and she has roughly similar proportions now.

Its very worrying.

Also Kate Middleton is supposed to have a 24" waist so how come she looks in your words utterly emaciated at a perfectly normal size?

sorry to hear that @ZednotZee hope your doing ok now.

Waist size depends on ribcage size, not just skinniness. For many women a 24” waist is not attainable at a healthy weight, as younger women are taller and larger, with bigger ribs than previous generations.
Salma Hayek and Nigella Lawson both owe their tiny waists to naturally small ribs, they are slim and healthy but not underweight.

If you have very little body fat your muscle definition will be clear, even if you’ve never picked up anything heavier than a shopping bag.
I get that about definition however their arm muscles were bulging.
I use weights regularly I've a low bmi and believe me their muscles are not easy to achieve and would require fuel and protein.
I'm only speaking for the 5.2/5.3 women who are slimmer Rachel and Monica.

@Ostara212

X post I find Liz Hurley to be very beautiful but her thinness made me a bit uncomfortable, I feel like she must be hungry all the time. I can't put my finger on why. I have a manager who is skinny and just constantly eats carbs but I feel like Liz H wouldn't do that.

My friend said she once read an interview with Liz Hurley in which she was asked whether she ever allows herself to eat ‘treat’ foods. She replied yes, she will sometimes have a handful of raisins if she fancies something sweet.

I remember once Jane Hill of the BBC commenting that she weighed 8 and half stone, I was so shocked, I would have said about 10 and half, but she does have a large head, maybe the camera does add pounds

Not for me at my height or many of my modelling peers hence the cotton wool, cigarettes, not eating.

Well I'm sorry but if someone really struggles that much to stay slim (not thin), then maybe modelling is simply not the right career for them?

Modelling is different from acting in that actors are hired to convincingly portray a range of characters, and it's horrendous that there's so much pressure on actresses to all have the same thin body type. Acting should be about acting talent. Modelling is purely about looks and unfortunately being a natural ectomorph is part of that.

Most models are young and naturally thin. 24inches is not crazily skinny - there are plenty of teens who eat pizza and chips every day and are still naturally that size or smaller.

I'm short, so modelling clearly isn't the right choice for me. If someone's natural body frame is of a type where they have to starve themselves just to stay slim, then maybe modelling just isn't the right career choice for them.

I don’t agree that a 24” waist is attainable or common for many adult women in the West. My DD has a 24” waist- she is 15 years old and 5ft 1 with a very small frame (tiny wrists and feet). I have a 30” waist but I’m a healthy weight and size.

Also Kate Middleton is supposed to have a 24" waist so how come she looks in your words utterly emaciated at a perfectly normal size?

According to whom? Tabloid gossip magazines? I doubt Kate or anyone who knows her would be releasing that information.

I have a 24inch waist and have stood next to her and she was substantially smaller than me.

Her waist is probably more like 20inches.

This thread was started about celebrities who look unexpectedly small in stature as well as extremely thin, and speculating about the pressures they face to maintain such a low weight.
Then a load of posters took offence and said hang on, I'm 5' 2"/3"/ 4" and have similarly low weight and it's quite natural for me, i eat loads but exercise loads etc and you're all meanies.
But It's not about you though, is it?
The fact remains that there is huge pressure on almost all women in the public eye to be very thin, it has no relevance for ordinary people who say they are naturally so. The problem is that these celebs' body shapes are completely unattainable for many people but they are seen as role models for young girls. Which can lead to disordered eating and serious health problems.
Interestingly I haven't seen anyone admit to having an eating disorder now although some have said they had suffered from this in the past...
I'll put my hand up. I have an unhealthy relationship with food, 'live to ' eat' (far too much) and have to do something about it. I'll start tomorrow.

@EmeraldShamrock

Imagine if the cast of Friends had reappeared as a size 12 /14 (GASP) with a bit of post menopausal excess. No chance. Maybe just maybe they've a small appetite and don't like grease foods. I hate stodgy greased foods, takeaway food is rank excluding a nice Indian takeaway. I love healthy light food. They'd no problem turning up with a wrecked face. Even when you re-watch friends both Rachel and Monica had beautiful defined muscle on their arms legs and stomach they're 5ft 3 a size 12/14 is very overweight for 5ft3. It isn't possible to build that muscle while starving. Ross didn't arrive with a beer belly or hadn't ruined his face he stayed the same no querying his dad bod. Ronan keatings wife photo on the beach shocking as she is tall. 5.3 size 6 is fine if regularly in the gym. Most of my size 6 friends from years ago are now an 8/10... 20 years later.

Jennifer Aniston has been open in the past about the fact that she got very little work in Hollywood until on the advice of her agent she lost 30lb, and booked Friends shortly after. She then visibly lost more weight over the course of the seasons. She clearly works very hard and is very disciplined but it’s patently untrue to suggest that this is her natural shape.

I don’t quite understand your point about David Schwimmer but he was one of the ones in the reunion whose face looked strangest.

Well I'm sorry but if someone really struggles that much to stay slim (not thin), then maybe modelling is simply not the right career for them?

You are aware that literally lots of models struggle to stay very thin? Why the denial?

Most models are young and naturally thin. 24inches is not crazily skinny - there are plenty of teens who eat pizza and chips every day and are still naturally that size or smaller.

I'm naturally slim & as a teenager would eat like a horse. However as I got older 8 stone was not a healthy weight for my height.

* Her waist is probably more like 20inches.*

According to whom? You? I doubt that.

@dorangme thank you. I'm fully recovered now

Then a load of posters took offence and said hang on, I'm 5' 2"/3"/ 4" and have similarly low weight and it's quite natural for me, i eat loads but exercise loads etc and you're all meanies. But It's not about you though, is it?

That's mainly not happened.

What caused offence was all the posters going "I'm a teeny tiny size 6 but I met such-and-such celeb and she was a quarter of my size, wearing an actual Barbie doll outfit, and could only be seen with an electron microscope."

It's just weird. Most famous women in the UK are slim, not teeny-tiny skinny. (Some are, but not most.) Yes it's bad that acting culture encourages and demands slimness almost across the board, but that's not what a lot of posts have been focusing on.

I swear to God someone's going to come along and say they met Edna Sharples once and she was an emaciated teeny tiny size 0 in person.

Yes I think so. I saw Audree Tatou once (who played Amelie) and she was absolutely tiny

Well I'm sorry but if someone really struggles that much to stay slim (not thin), then maybe modelling is simply not the right career for them?

Hang on are you saying that if models can't achieve 24" waists they are struggling to stay slim? 😆

@ZednotZee glad to hear

What caused offence was all the posters going "I'm a teeny tiny size 6 but I met such-and-such celeb and she was a quarter of my size, wearing an actual Barbie doll outfit, and could only be seen with an electron microscope."

What like you did re Kate Middleton?

I have a 24inch waist and have stood next to her and she was substantially smaller than me.

🤔