Joanne McNally has slammed new Netlfix movie To The Bone, which follows a young woman who is battling anorexia.
Lily Collins, who also battled anorexia as a teenager, had to lose weight rapidly for the lead role of Ellen in the Netflix original movie – and the fact hasn’t sit well with some people.
Joanne, who used her own battle with eating disorders to write her stand-up show Bite Me, revealed how easy it would be to “slip back” to her old ways if she was told to lose weight for a role.
“That is dodgy, if I suddenly had a role that I had to drop 20 pounds for I’d be terrified I’d slip back,” she told the Irish Mirror.
Dodgy: Lily Collins, who suffered from anorexia as a teenager, lost weight rapidly for her role in To The Bone | NETFLIX
“You have all these tricks when you’re sick, I mean even now if I lose weight for a holiday the girls will take me aside and say, ‘are you okay?’ You never fake it but people always assume you’re going to relapse.
“I’ve a friend and she got donuts delivered to the office and she was looking at me really freaked out thinking a box of donuts was going to make me slip back into the the illness.
“It’s not a fine line like that, I mean but having to lose weight for a role could easily set you back,” she explained.
In response to the criticism, Marti Noxon, who wrote and directed the film, said, “Having struggled with anorexia and bulimia well into my 20s, I know first-hand the struggle, isolation and shame a person feels when they are in the grips of this illness.
To The Bone is about more than eating disorders. It’s about family, life’s magic, and starting a conversation. pic.twitter.com/hR8wgZ35el
— Netflix US (@netflix) July 15, 2017
“In an effort to tell this story as responsibly as we could, we spoke with other survivors and worked with Project Heal throughout production in the hopes of being truthful in a way that wasn’t exploitive.
“That said, it’s important to remember that each person’s battle with EDs is unique and To The Bone is just one of the millions of ED stories that could be told in the US at this very moment.
“My goal with the film was not to glamorize EDs, but to serve as a conversation starter about an issue that is too often clouded by secrecy and misconceptions. I hope that by casting a little light into the darkness of this disease we can achieve greater understanding and guide people to help if they need it,” Marti added.
Cathartic: Joanne wrote her show Bite Me about her own battle with anorexia and bulimia | VIPIRELAND.COM
Meanwhile, 34-year-old Joanne, who battled anorexia and bulimia for years, admitted that writing her comedy show Bite Me was cathartic.
“I wanted to write a comedy about eating disorders because when I was sick I couldn’t find anything on the illness that I could relate to. It’s all sad and serious but there were funny parts to it as well, there’s always a bit of craic in losing your mind.
“You just have to look after your mind, I did all the therapy, the treatments and the programmes five years ago. In a way I wouldn’t change it because I’ve no idea what kind of a person I’d be if I didn’t change it.
“The illness got me into comedy, because I was sick and had to go into hospital I had to quit my job in Thinkhouse PR. Sometimes I do get a bit emotional in the show because there’s a dip in it, where I realise that I had an eating disorder rather than I was just in a really intense diet.
“My show is not like therapy because I think that’s unfair on the audience, just pay to go to a therapist if you need to go to therapy,” she said.
Happy: Joanne is finally comfortable in her own skin | VIPIRELAND.COM
Joanne, who is now a size 10, is happy to finally be comfortable in her own skin.
“I really like my body now and I never thought I’d get to the stage where I would say that, if I put on weight now it doesn’t bother me, I’m like, ‘oh yeah grand I’ll lose it or I won’t.’
“I’m not going to pretend that if I put on six stone, I’d be totally cool with it because I wouldn’t be, but I don’t get caught up in sizes anymore. It’s actually very freeing, to be at the stage when I’m not obsessed by weight and size, I try not to dwell on it.
“And I don’t comment on anyone’s weight, I drive my friends mad because if they lose weight I never compliment them on it. I think it’s dangerous, they’re like ‘have you not noticed I’ve lost weight?’ I’m not going to reduce you down to somebody who’s lost weight,” she added.
