Helen Hunt rejects Hollywood beauty standards
The 61-year-old actress used to feel pressure to look a certain way - but her outlook has changed in recent years.
Speaking to Flow Space, Helen explained: "It felt impossible not to internalise the way you're supposed to look. And [there was] a certain amount of misery and shame around not looking exactly that way."
Helen realised that Hollywood's beauty standards were affecting her self-esteem. However, she now refuses to allow outside pressures to damage her mental health.
The 'What Women Want' star said: "I realised, 'This could quietly ruin your whole life.' I made a decision: I'm not playing. Not gonna [let it] take up a lot of space in my mind."
Helen's new approach has been heavily influenced by 'The Only Diet There Is', a book written by the spiritual leader Sondra Ray.
The actress explained: "What I took from it, is eat what you want and love every bite, period."
Meanwhile, Helen previously admitted to obsessing about her appearance in the 80s.
The movie star felt under pressure to look a certain way at the time - but a change of attitude has proven to be transformational for her.
She told HuffPost Live: "I had my run in the '80s about being really worried about how I looked. Everybody was more fit, or more thin, and I maxed out on worrying about it."
Helen's change in attitude has benefited her mental and physical health.
The actress - who has won a host of accolades during her career, including an Academy Award and four Golden Globes - reflected: "I just gave up on worrying about it. When I gave it up, my brain and body got better.
"I was taking these exercise classes called 'abs, thighs, and buns' and I was like, 'I'm going to be dead one day — do I really want to give up an hour in this class?'"
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Perth Now
4 days ago
- Perth Now
WA fashion makes big impression alongside Hollywood stars
As Hollywood icons Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan stepped out in Sydney earlier this week for the premiere of Freakier Friday, Perth's fashion and music talents made an equally big impression in the Harbour City in the lead up to the movie sequel's release. Members of alternative/punk rock band Lash, whose iconic song Take Me Away found fame in 2005's Freaky Friday, met Curtis and Lohan for one of the first Aussie interviews with the famous pair. Belinda-Lee Reid and Jessicca Bennett, who co-wrote and performed the song, found themselves chatting with the on-screen mother-daughter duo on behalf of Disney for their social media channels. Reid said she was very nervous about interviewing the stars but Curtis in particular made her feel very comfortable. 'She said 'it's an honour that we got to use your song and thank you for letting us use it in the movie again',' Reid said. Reid added the Academy Award winner also revealed she had rehearsed for her Take Me Away guitar solo in the original movie by miming the song in front of her husband Christopher Guest, who had played guitarist Nigel Tufnel in the mockumentary This is Spinal Tap. Jamie Lee Curtis, Belinda-Lee Reid, Lindsay Lohan and Jessicca Bennett during the Freakier Friday press tour. Credit: Supplied The musicians, who had not seen each other in 17 years, also shared the purple carpet with Lohan and Curtis at the premiere on Tuesday night and were delighted the song found itself in the new sequel as well. Reid also repped Perth to the next level, stepping out in Wheels & Dollbaby creations for both the Disney interview as well as the premiere. She got rock-star ready ahead of the soiree at the sprawling WA estate of Wheels & Dollbaby designer and founder Melanie Greensmith and her partner, Divinyls guitarist and founder Mark McEntee. If you'd like to view this content, please adjust your . To find out more about how we use cookies, please see our Cookie Guide. In a full-circle moment, Greensmith previously dressed Reid for the 2002 ARIA Awards. 'I just thought it was so much fun that I'd done it 20 years ago and then I could do it again now,' Greensmith said. Wheels & Dollbaby designs are based on Greensmith's svelte silhouette, which happen to share a striking similarity to Reid's figure. 'So I fit like a glove in her dresses,' Reid said. Wheels & Dollbaby and Greensmith are of course no strangers to Hollywood, counting The Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger, model Jerry Hall, late singer Amy Winehouse, Hailey Baldwin, Britney Spears, Slash, Kelly Osbourne, Scarlett Johansson and Nicole Richie among its celebrity clients. During the fitting, Greensmith also fondly recalled a memorable night with Lohan from about a decade go, partying at the famed Chateau Marmont in LA after a chance meeting. The Perth designer was out with her rocker-partner McEntee and former Blondie guitarist Frank Infante when Lohan approached them. 'It a wild night,' Greensmith said. 'I lost a Chanel earring so Lindsay and I ended up under the table trying to find it.' Former Lash band members Jessicca Bennett and Belinda Lee Reid at the Freakier Friday Premiere in Sydney. Credit: Joseph Dadic
Perth Now
5 days ago
- Perth Now
Matthew McConaughey ‘lost role of Jack Dawson in Titanic after refusing to take direction during his audition'
Matthew McConaughey is said to have lost the role of Jack Dawson in Titanic after refusing to take direction during his audition with director James Cameron. The 55-year-old actor, known for his Texan drawl and easy charm, auditioned opposite Kate Winslet during early casting sessions for the 1997 blockbuster, and the claim he botched his try-out for the hit movie comes from producer Jon Landau's posthumous memoir, The Bigger Picture, which was excerpted in journalist Matthew Belloni's newsletter What I'm Hearing. Jon is said to have written: 'We brought (Matthew) in to do a scene with Kat (Winslet, for Totanic.) 'You want to check for chemistry, not just how people look on film but how they interact. Kate was taken with Matthew, his presence and charm. Matthew did the scene with the (Southern) drawl.' According to Jon, after Matthew's initial reading, filmmaker James, now 70, asked him to perform the scene again without the Southern accent. The actor is said to have declined. 'That was pretty good. Thanks,' Matthew apparently said, ending the audition without doing a second take. Jack Dawson, the character eventually portrayed by Leonardo DiCaprio, was written as a working-class orphan from Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, travelling back to America aboard the ill-fated RMS Titanic. While Matthew was rejected for the role, Leonardo, now 50, also initially caused friction during the audition process. In a 2022 interview with GQ, James recalled asking Leonardo to read lines in a test shoot alongside Winslet. The actor reportedly told him: 'Oh, I don't read.' James replied that if he didn't read, he wouldn't get the part. Leonardo then agreed and delivered a strong performance. 'Kate just lit up … dark clouds had opened up and a ray of sun came down and lit up Jack,' James said – adding: 'I'm like, 'Alright, he's the guy.'' Titanic, released in December 1997, became one of the most commercially and critically successful films of all time. Directed by James and starring Leonardo and Kate, the film tells the story of the actors' characters Jack and Rose – two young lovers from different social backgrounds who meet aboard the doomed ship. The film had a production budget of around $200 million and earned more than $2.2 billion globally. It became the highest-grossing film of all time at the time of its release, holding that title until James' Avatar overtook it in 2009. Titanic received 14 Academy Award nominations and won 11, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Song and Best Cinematography. It also catapulted both Leonardo and Kate – then aged 22 and 21 respectively – to international stardom. Despite narrowly missing the opportunity, Matthew went on to enjoy major success in Hollywood with roles in Dallas Buyers Club, Interstellar, and True Detective, earning an Academy Award in 2014.
Perth Now
6 days ago
- Perth Now
REVEALED: All-star cast of new Harry Potter audio series
Listen to a sneak peek of Audible's new Harry Potter audiobook series. Fans of the Harry Potter book and film series will soon be treated to a large scale audio production of all seven books, starring British actors Hugh Laurie as Dumbledore and Matthew MacFadyen as Voldemort. A collaboration between Audible and Pottermore Publishing, Harry Potter: The Full-Cast Audio Editions will feature 200 actors and is considered to be 'the most ambitious audiobook cast ever assembled'. The famed stories, penned by renowned author J.K. Rowling, will come to life through high-quality Dolby Atmos sound design, original music, and the A-list cast. Among the star-studded line-up are Academy Award winner Riz Ahmed as Professor Snape, BAFTA nominee Michelle Gomez as Professor McGonagall, and Cush Jumbo OBE as the narrator. Playing the popular trio of young wizards will be Frankie Treadaway as Harry Potter, Max Lester as Ron Weasley, and Arabella Stanton as Hermione Granger, who will all feature in audiobooks 1-3 before being replaced by more mature voices. Cast members of the latest Harry Potter audiobook production have been announced. Credit: Audible / Pottermore Publishing Stanton's connection to the Potter juggernaut is only set to rise, following her casting as Hermione in the forthcoming HBO TV series, which began filming in July. The TV reboot also features established actors John Lithgow as Dumbledore, Nick Frost as Hagrid, and Anton Lesser as Ollivander. Industry veteran Laurie, known for his work in TV's House, and Blackadder, said he was grateful to be playing such an iconic character, albeit that will not appear on screen. 'I'm honoured to have been trusted with the keys to Albus Dumbledore, and thrilled to be able to take him around the track of this beautiful incarnation by Pottermore and Audible,' he said. 'I'm also deeply conscious of previous drivers Richard Harris, Michael Gambon, Jude Law and the iconic narrations by Jim Dale and my colleague Sir Stephen Fry. Just below the horizon, but headed our way, is the rough beast John Lithgow, his hour come round at last. 'This is great company, and it's a privilege to be among their number.' Hugh Laurie will voice Albus Dumbledore. Credit: Steffan Hill / BBC/The Forge/Steffan Hill As referenced by Laurie, the newest iteration of audiobooks follows the original single-voice narrations by Jim Dale and Stephen Fry, which were first released in 1999. Since being made available on Audible in 2015, the classic recordings have amassed an unprecedented 1.8 billion global listening hours on the platform. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone will naturally be the first audiobook released of the newest batch, scheduled for November 4, with each proceeding story to follow at monthly intervals. Further cast members will be announced in the coming months.
