Coyote Ugly actress Melanie Lynskey has revealed that she was told she’s “not beautiful” and viciously body-shamed while filming the 2000 blockbuster.
Lynskey played Gloria in the hit movie, who moved with the character Violet Sanford to pursue a musical career in New York. The NZ-born actor told The Hollywood Reporter that crew members were “disappointed” about her size, despite her being an Australian size eight.
“All the girls had this regimen they had to go on. It was ridiculous,” the actress said. “I was already starving myself and as thin as I could possibly be for this body, and I was still a [size] four [Australian size eight].”
“There were already people putting a lot of Spanx on me in wardrobe fittings and being very disappointed when they saw me, the costume designer being like, ‘Nobody told me there would be girls like you,’” she added.
When quizzed further about the body shaming that occurred on set, Lynskey said, “Really intense feedback about my physicality, my body, people doing my makeup and being like, ‘I’m just going to help you out by giving you a bit more of a jawline and stuff.’ Just the feedback was constantly like, ‘You’re not beautiful. You’re not beautiful.’”
Lynskey’s comments from The Hollywood Reporter article, went viral shortly after it was published, and many fans pointed the finger at the stylist who was credited on the movie, Marlene Stewart. However, the actress clarified that Stewart wasn’t the crew member that shamed her.
“The costume designer who initially worked on Coyote Ugly left for some reason, and a lovely kind woman named Marlene Stewart took over and she was AWESOME,” Lynskey tweeted.
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“The first person was mean, the person credited was not,” she wrote. “And my answer was kind of a jumble – I had experiences with makeup artists offering to help my face look better but that did not happen on Coyote Ugly. The hair and makeup team were amazing and so kind and among the best I’ve ever worked with.”
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