To say that Hollywood is obsessed with weight and beauty is an understatement. Even 59-year-old Carrie Fisher was forced to lose 35 pounds first before she got to reprise her role as Princess Leia in J.J. Abrams' "Star Wars: The Force Awakens."
"They don't want to hire all of me - only about three-quarters!" she told Good Housekeeping during an interview. "Nothing changes, it's an appearance-driven thing. I'm in a business where the only thing that matters is weight and appearance. That is so messed up. They might as well say get younger, because that's how easy it is."
What was not easy though, according to Fisher, was losing weight. She was never the kind of actress to obsess about her weight, and she does not like to deprive herself for the sake of a svelte figure.
"I did it (lose weight) the same way everybody has to - don't eat and exercise more! There is no other way to do it," she revealed. "I have a harder time eating properly than I do exercising. It's easier for me to add an activity than to deny myself something. When I do lose the weight I don't like that it makes me feel good about myself. It's not who I am. My problem is they talk to me like an actress but I hear them like a writer."
It boggles Fisher's mind how people care more about a person's appearance rather than their wellbeing.
"We treat beauty like an accomplishment and that is insane. Everyone in LA says, 'Oh you look good,' and you listen for them to say you've lost weight. It's never 'How are you?' or 'You seem happy!'" she said.
This obsession with beauty is enough to drive anyone up the wall, especially for someone who grew up as showbiz royalty. Thankfully, Fisher is a pretty grounded actress despite all of the struggles she faced as a youngster.
"I looked at my mother and said, 'Wow, she is gorgeous and I don't look like her, therefore I'm not pretty.' And my father doesn't visit - 'I mustn't be pretty because he likes pretty women,'" she shared. "You think, I'll go into show business because then I'll get enough love and they will put make-up on me properly and then my life will work."
In the end, Fisher found approval in the eyes of her dog Gary, and she found herself all the more happier with it. "He travels everywhere with me! I love that saying: Make me become the person my animal thinks I am. If I am who Gary thinks I am, I'm fantastic!"
