Said the actress Melanie Lynskey, describing her response when some unnamed production person asked her, "What do you plan to do? I’m sure the producers will get you a trainer. They’d love to help you with this."
She's quoted in "‘Yellowjackets’ Star Melanie Lynskey Was Body-Shamed on Set – And Her Co-Stars Weren’t Having It" (Yahoo News).
She says: "It was really important to me for [the character she plays] to not ever comment on my body, to not have me putting a dress on and being like, 'I wish I looked a bit better.' I did find it important that this character is just comfortable and sexual and not thinking or talking about it, because I want women to be able to to watch it and be like, 'Wow, she looks like me and nobody’s saying she’s the fat one.' That representation is important."
Apparently, the actor who plays her boyfriend on the show is considered better looking than she is, and some people might say — or worry about other people saying — why is he with her? By the way Melanie Lynskey is in the movie "Don't Look Up," playing the role of the wife of the character played by Leonardo DiCaprio. She was the most believable character in the movie, really seeming like an actual person. In that movie, some characters were cartoons and some were naturalistic.
That can be a problem. Some movies and TV shows have idealized faces, beyond the realm of ordinary people. Other shows look more real. It might be a problem to mix these 2 concepts, but it might work to deliberately pair a beautiful man with an ordinary looking woman, and not just because it's so often been a beautiful woman with an ordinary man and some payback is in order. It can work because the women in the audience want to identify with the female character and enjoy a romantic fantasy.
