Lili Reinhart Opened Up About Feeling Insecure About Her Body While Filming ‘Riverdale’
Lili Reinhart is getting real about dealing with fluctuating weight due to depression and feelings of insecurity while filming Riverdale. After a Riverdale viewer accused the cast of "contributing to unrealistic body expectations [and] body image issues," Reinhart took to Twitter to share her own experiences with comparing herself to her co-stars and others in the film and TV industry. Lili Reinhart’s tweets about her body insecurity on Riverdale get so candid about the topic, and they're seriously refreshing.
On Thursday, Feb. 6, the Hustlers star opened up to her followers about her ongoing struggles with her body image in response to a fan's claim that she and her co-stars were unrealistically portraying teens with "perfectly chiseled bodies."
"Actually, not everyone on this show is perfectly chiseled," Reinhart tweeted. "And even I feel intimidated by the physique of my surrounding cast mates sometimes when I have to do bra/underwear scenes."
The star then got real about how she's struggled with unrealistic expectations that viewers and the industry have for women in TV and film.
"I’ve felt very insecure due to the expectation that people have for women on TV, what they should look like," Reinhart continued. "But I have come to terms with my body and that I’m not the kind of person you would see walking on a runway during fashion week. I have bigger boobs, I have cellulite on my thighs/butt, and my stomach sticks out rather than curves in."
Reinhart then mentioned her struggles with mental health as she continued, "This is still something I struggle with on a daily basis. And it doesn’t help when I’m being compared to other women. I have gained weight due to depression the last two months and I’ve felt very insecure about it."
However, the actress revealed that she'd recently tried to overcome these insecurities because she felt like it was her responsibility to show fans different kind of body types on TV.
"I did a recent bra and underwear scene and felt it was my obligation to be strong and show confidence in myself, looking as I do," she added. "And I want other young women to see my body on tv and feel comfort in the fact that I’m not a size 0. And I’m not a perfect hourglass shape."
"This industry struggles with accurate representation of female and male bodies," Reinhart concluded. "So I commend the women who have helped our industry take a step in the right ~and authentic~ direction."
It's not the first time that the actress, who's revealed that she struggles with body dysmorphia, has opened up about how she deals with critiques about her body.
In June 2018, the 21-year-old admitted that rumors that she was pregnant were a "hit to [her] self esteem" while walking the CDFA Fashion Awards.
"It was bugging me and at first it was really upsetting. I’m 21 — I’m not pregnant, I don’t want people to think I’m pregnant if I’m not pregnant. It did take a hit to my self-esteem for a second and then I kind of picked myself back up and said, 'I’m not going to let this ruin my day!'" she told Entertainment Tonight at the time.
Feelings of body insecurity are something that many people struggle with, but it sounds like Reinhart is learning to love herself at any size and is encouraging her fans to do the same.
