Oscar nominee, 'Precious Star' told to lose weight if she wants more roles

[Liberal_in_LA]

Is Gabby Too Big for Hollywood?



Posted by admin on March 9, 2010

*At this point the whole world knows that Gabourey “Gabby” Sidibe can act her big butt off. But (yes the pun is intended), that’s the problem.

Gabby, nominated for a best actress Oscar for “Precious,” is loaded with talent and has personality for days, but is she too BIG for Hollywood?!

According to the PopEater’s Rob Shuter, an industry source told him she needs drop a lot of poundage if she wants to keep working.

“I’m not saying it’s correct, but it’s a simple fact that she will have to lose a lot of weight if she wants to keep getting parts,” one casting director told Shuter. “The same thing happened to Nikki Blonsky from ‘Hairspray.’ Everyone said how great she was, and she hasn’t worked since.”

The article goes on to quote friends of Gabby saying that she hasn’t felt any pressure, but they also note that she’s not exactly being inundated with parts, either.

http://www.eurweb.com/?p=11928

[Skink]

1. Pair her with Eddie Murphy.

In Big sisters house.

[itsrobert]

5. Isn't that Martin Lawrence?

?

[marmar]

23. Yes, but you know we're all the same.....

nt

[DRoseDARs]

32. With either actor, it'll kill her career. She needs roles in GOOD movies, not shitty ones.

Cut the crap, he wasn't being racist.

[marmar]

46. You can pretend to perceive it any way you want.....

Cut the crap, and quit trying to tell me how to perceive things.

[DRoseDARs]

52. So if Skink had mixed up white actors' names, would that make him racist against whites?

Or are you just a myopic hypocrite?

[slampoet]

33. Wow. You are aptly named after a wannabe lizard.

[sharesunited]

2. And Cristoph Waltz needs to learn to yodel.

[Canuckistanian]

3. Being overweight - the last social taboo

Or at least close to last.

Why shouldn't she have a long career? Are there no overweight people in real life worth portraying?

[Liberal_in_LA]

4. Roseann Barr, Rosie are chubby role models but they are comediennes.

[TheDebbieDee]

9. True that! But if we want to enjoy Gabby's talents for many, many

years to come, she needs to lose a lot of weight, or we're going to lose Gabby. Gabby needs to lose a lot of weight before we can even call her chubby! And I'd love to call her chubby.

[dustbunnie]

12. Don't forget Aida Turturro. Or Queeb Latifah and Camryn Manheim. Also

Kathy Bates. These are all serious actresses and they're fantastic. But they look healthy and exude vitality. Gabourey Sidibe looks tired, unhealthy and overwhelmed by her weight.

Same goes for male actors. Some carry weight well and look pretty good. Like John Goodman (my movie star crush). Marlon Brando just looked so sick toward the end it was hard to watch him on screen without pity.

[XemaSab]

24. Queen Latifah looks fine to me... She's 200 pounds, but she's 5'10 and carries it well

[slampoet]

34. All well and good but notice none of these people have done anything in Five years.

And that is about the same time frame as the start of the attacks on the overweight as worse than smokers.

Each one of the people you and others mentioned started their careers during the Clinton Admin when fat was considered Okay.

Now we are in the middle of a designated push to denigrate the overweight and notice that everyone of the people mentioned in this thread have had their careers slide during that time.

[dustbunnie]

40. That is totally false. They've all worked in the last five years.

Kathy Bates had ovarian cancer but beat it and went on to do Revolutionary Road, not a shabby small flick. Camryn stars weekly with a major role in Ghost Whisperer. Tuturro has starred regularly in weekly tv series up to 2010 and including the Sopranos, which only stopped airing in 07. Queen Latifah has worked on a plethora of movies in the last few years, including one that was released in 2010 and two more that are pending release. Plus I forgot to mention America Ferrara, who has worked regularly in the last ten years, including working on two flicks in 2010 while her show was still on air. So again, not sure where you get your info, but it's as wrong as can be.

[KamaAina]

39. Or Oprah

yes, she's a movie star, too ("The Color Purple").

[dustbunnie]

42. Yep. I forgot to mention a few... i named the first ones off the top of my head.

[jbnow]

14. Oh there are lots of taboos in acting field depending on characters and

directors view of that character.
She'd have many fewer roles staying heavy if there are fewer roles calling for a heavier woman.

But acting is a field where they'll be quite blunt. You try out for a character and hear you were too short or tall, too fat or skinny, old or young, voice too high or low. Casting calls usually call for the age, race and body type wanted... but even within that range they'll decide someone is 10 or 20 pounds too heavy or light or whatever.
In normal employment an employer could never say anything about looks as reason person isn't hired but in acting having to meet what the director envisions for the characters look isn't discrimination.

In real life you are right about obesity though...

[KittyWampus]

44. No, it's being overweight and FEMALE. I can think of a few overweight male actors.

They end up with the hot wives.

[ShortnFiery]

58. I hate it. It ruins the HEALTHY development of image for our young girls.

My teenage daughter and her friends are always worrying about looking fat. I had to share with them THE FACT that all magazine covers are "retouched" to make the models all look like bone thin cyborgs with clear complexions.

It's horrible because these young women are slender, yet because the MEDIA promote an INSANE view of beauty (5'10" and 105 lbs), anyone who is not that tall or not that thin feels "less than."

[jmowreader]

90. And this woman is supposed to inspire healthy development of image?

The woman weighs three hundred fifty pounds. Think about that for a minute. Yes, the media should be excoriated for portraying 150-pound women as fat, but this is beyond that. This is "I weigh as much as two average-sized people" obese.

[jmowreader]

89. I can think of a few overweight female actors too

But none of them are as big as she is.

[jmowreader]

88. She's not "overweight" but rather "morbidly obese"

Very, very few of the overweight real-life people who have done things you'd want to make a movie out of are that large.

[Hello_Kitty]

6. Fuck Hollywood for promoting narrow beauty standards. eom

[targetpractice]

7. Umm... She just landed a part in a Showtime series with Laura Linney...

http://tvbythenumbers.com/2010/03/09/gabourey-sidibe-joins-showtime-series-the-big-c-as-recurring-guest/44323

So there.

[midnight]

36. Glad to hear it...

[Dorian Gray]

62. Awesome

she deserves the work. I love her personality! She's so bubbly and funny and fresh! I've never seen anyone interviewed on the red carpet quite like her!

[joeybee12]

70. That's the thing...TV will be kinder to her about roles than movies

will be..TV, overall, is more actress-friendly.

[Dappleganger]

84. Awesome!

Movies are sooo overrated, I'd much rather watch many of these great movie channel series (although now we have to wait for them to come out on Netflix).

[Johonny]

8. Is this new

there aren't that many lead roles for people that society might label "unattractive". These people tended to end up with character actor type roles in the past, but character actors sort of went out with the studio system. I guess there were/are a few comic leads that were heavy. Which is to say does anyone disagree this probably isn't true, if not unfair. Or maybe it is fair? Do people tend to want to watch "attractive" people in movies and thus those movies make more money. (certainly Hollywood backers think so) Movie populated by attractive unrealistic people tend to limit what you can make as a movie... such as movies like "Precious". Which might argue she's better off in indie films than in Hollywood anyways. So on the downside she never gets leads in movies like Transformers, on the brightside she never gets leads in movies like Transformers.

[riderinthestorm]

21. Okay, so I agree with this.

And I have to say, she's too heavy to be healthy. Americans are overweight and generally we are fairly tolerant of big people (Rosie O'Donnell, John Candy, John Belushi, Oprah Winfrey etc.) but after a certain point, some people just look unhealthy.

That just crosses some kind of dividing point. While Gabourie's character in Precious worked as enormous, it's uncomfortable in real life.

(spoken by an overweight female so I "get" society's disdain but also "get" that it's unhealthy to be overweight).

[Faygo Kid]

10. Why is this posted on GD?

I don't like this at all. Put it on the Lounge and let them have at it.

[Sebastian Doyle]

11. Sure beats the Hell out another thread bashing a certain Democratic Congressman

Shit, even the three months of Michael Jackson threads beat the last 48 hours in here.

[Faygo Kid]

13. I assume you mean Kucinich. Unless you're a Stupak supporter?

If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.

[Sebastian Doyle]

16. Well, let me put it this way....

<------ you'll never see a Bart Stupid avatar here!

[O is 44]

15. He deserves to be criticized if he is willing to

kill the healthcare bill right along with Stupak.

[Sebastian Doyle]

17. God damn, give it a rest already

There's already 8.675,309 threads on this bullshit.

[O is 44]

20. You can't get mad when you brought it

up on this thread.

[bridgit]

57. Agreed

[ShortnFiery]

59. Yes, too funny. Even a thread about "Precious" is not immune to the ATTACK DK SQUAD.

Ya know kids, there is such a thing as being TOO DEDICATED (obsessed?) to one's cause? :evilgrin:

[bridgit]

60. heh-heh, no shit, now if we could only get his cheerleaders to understand *their* obsession

:spray:

[ShortnFiery]

61. They're almost as annoying as the "health fanatics." I think if Precious wants to stay HUGE and

continues to enjoy her snacks. Good for her!

As some good portly folks say in New Orleans, "Laissez Les Bon Temps Roulez."

"Quality of life" is not the same for all people. :evilgrin:

[Hissyspit]

19. General discussion of social issue with political implications (racism, weightism).

If the mods don't agree, I guess they'll move it.

[MellowDem]

30. Racism, weightism?

Where's the racism? As for weightism, I don't think being honest is wrong. You don't see many fat actresses, that's a fact. And fat characters are usually typecast and the truth of the matter is that if you are thinner you usually have more opportunities in a place like Hollywood. Nothing wrong with saying the truth. Is it right? That's a whole other discussion, but I'm guessing most of DU doesn't think it is.

[Eric Condon]

51. There's elements of it, but it's more subtle

Since it's deemed okay to engage in open fat-shaming in the public discourse, but not in open racism, the weight issue is going to get more coverage. But the sad fact is that from the looks of it, America likes its black actresses to look like Halle Berry - i.e. conforming exactly to white standards of beauty. Even if Sidibe lost 100 lbs, she still wouldn't fit the bill.

This is part of why the media narrative on Sidibe has been so condescending, such as the red-carpet stuff from the Oscars - always talking about how "inspiring" she is, constantly having to hammer home that she is indeed "beautiful," etc. They basically talked to her like she got to go to the Oscars through the Make a Wish foundation or something. I guess it would never occur to them to, you know, talk to her like an adult, let alone like just another actor (and an Oscar nominee to boot).

[MellowDem]

66. I agree with you there...

that it was awkward how they presented her with "kid gloves". Part of it was her age I think, and a lot of it was her weight. I don't know if anyone that morbidly obese has ever been nominated in Hollywood. And the whole red carpet part of the show has to be the shallowest part, as it's all about the clothes and how good the actresses and actors look, so I think it was going to be awkward regardless.

I'm not sure America only wants it's black actresses to look like Halle Barry. There are other black actresses not that thin. But I think when it comes to women, there is a much greater expectation that they be thin, regardless of race.

[XemaSab]

22. Nice pic of Clooney

:P

[lame54]

67. it's pretty general

[Bitwit1234]

18. Well you have to admit that there are not too many roles for big big women or

for that fact men also. Hollywood doesn't write those kind of scripts. Queen Latifta is heavy and she gets roles, so why doesn't the Precious Star do what she did loose weight. Look at the hard time Kristie Alley is having because of her weight. They say you shouldn't discriminate but that's how the world is.

[Mimosa]

25. It can't hurt her to lose weight

To quote from OP:


“I’m not saying it’s correct, but it’s a simple fact that she will have to lose a lot of weight if she wants to keep getting parts,” one casting director told Shuter. “The same thing happened to Nikki Blonsky from ‘Hairspray.’ Everyone said how great she was, and she hasn’t worked since.”

But on the other hand, she certainly has a unique presence which might help her get 'character roles' if they still do that.

[theHandpuppet]

27. It wouldn't hurt Sarah Jessica Parker to eat a cheeseburger

She's way beyond thin -- she's emaciated and looks unwell.

[MellowDem]

29. And the orange tan cream... nt

[ctaylors6]

31. that was AWFUL!!!

[Warren DeMontague]

47. Yeah, but who watches Sarah Jessica Parker movies?

it's not men.

[Dappleganger]

85. Unfortunately that won't change her horseface. nt

[WeekendWarrior]

26. I think this is NEGATED by the fact that

she just signed on as a series regular on a new pilot for a TV series starring Laura Linney. She'll be playing a high school student.

http://celebrifi.com/gossip/Breakout-Star-Gabourey-Sidibe-Lands-TV-Show-1792475.html

[MellowDem]

28. If anything...

if she wants to live beyond her 50s without some debilitating diseases due to her obesity and live a full life, she should lose some weight. Someone that young being that big is a shame.

[slampoet]

35. She'd get more parts if she lightened her skin too, but people are more comfortable being biggots

against weight than race.

[MellowDem]

38. It's funny...

because perceptions of beauty encourage stars to darken their skin through tanning (or horrible orange creams). Pale skin is considered ugly, where it was once considered beautiful. Of course, so was being overweight. Her weight is a much bigger issue than the color of her skin in a place like Hollywood.

[Political Heretic]

49. I love and miss pale skin. Used to be called fair skin.

Sigh.

[Withywindle]

37. That's too bad.

I'm glad to see she got a part in a TV series. (I really hoped she would win the Best Actress Oscar - call me a sap, but I LIKE Cinderella stories.) Mo'Nique, who did win Best Supporting Actress for the same film, is no wispy waif herself.

But I do agree she looks overwhelmed by her weight, in a way that Mo'Nique and Queen Latifah and some other "plus-size" stars don't. I really admire the positive attitude she showed in interviews and I thought she was beautiful in that royal blue dress. But I do hope she loses SOME weight, both for her career and her health. She doesn't have to become a toothpick like your typical Hollywood starlet, but to be that big really does put a lot of strain on the heart and the bones and the joints, and really does limit what you can do. I think she's got the potential for a brilliant career, and I hope she has one so she can be a role model to show other "big" girls that you don't have to be scrawny to be a star.

[MrMickeysMom]

41. Remember Ricky Lake?

Chubby Ricky when she was in the original movie, "Hairspray". I recall John Waters being interviewed about her never ending approval with loosing weight after that role, which he couldn't understand because he loved the original Ricky Lake.

And so they all try to loose it for fucking Hollywood, which I've never understood anyway. Why does everyone have to look the same? Indeed. Fucking lame, if you ask me.

Now, I think I'll see "Precious"...

[bridgit]

43. She should be losing weight for her own health

[Mimosa]

45. Definitely.

John Candy was a really gifted actor. He could touch one's heart as well as make one laugh. And heart disease caused by morbid obesity killed him. It can happen to females as well. Plus all the wear on the joints, diabetes, etc.

[Political Heretic]

50. She can make that decision without your help.

[bridgit]

55. What a snarky small minded thing to post

Only certain DUers would argue morbid obesity as a healthy choice for the sake of being divisive. I'm sorry, but regarding this topic your post is the least helpful of them all

[Political Heretic]

83. Yes certain DUers who believe its none of your business.

:shrug:

[bridgit]

92. Its none of yours either so why don't you STFU now..

You should try it, I see as a good fit on you

[bigwillq]

65. Exactly

Not sure of her health record, but she looks so unhealthy and uncomfortable to me. She looks very swollen. I hope she's ok.

[Political Heretic]

48. Part of the reason for that is the shallowness of story-writing for hollywood films.

When the story is about a hero racing down streets and dodging explosions for various generic plot purposes, and the female lead role is either to run along side the hero between gratuitous sex scenes or - occasionally - be the hero / sex object itself...

It doesn't leave much room for anything other than typecasting the same few hollywood hardbodies for those roles.

And I'm not pretending to be something I'm not either - I go watch Angelina Jolie shoot people in the face or Matt Damon stop an evil CIA plot just like everyone else. But let's not kid ourselves here - the opportunities for anyone that isn't conditioned for "action hero" status is pretty slim.

[SoCalDem]

54. and roles are so specific, that unless there is a part for a "fat person"

or a "non-specific/not-important character", she will be limited in her roles.

She will lose or not lose the weight on her own terms..and she does not HAVE to be an actress.. This role may have been Kismet..and she may end up doing something entirely different with her life.. She hit paydirt right out of the gate, and with the extra money that will come her way for a little while , she may decide to use it for college, and never "act" again.. It's her decision..

[Hekate]

53. I was hoping she'd choose to lose for her own health. I wish the young lady well. nt

[elocs]

56. Aside from getting more roles or having a long career she might worry about a longer life.

I wonder how many tears will be shed when her bright life is cut short by being so overweight?

[Love Bug]

63. Do you all honestly think she doesn't already know this?

I love how so many seem to think it's ok to tell someone who's fat they need to lose weight. Believe me, we already know that. We are reminded of this every time we look in a mirror, try to buy clothes, or try to get a date. We also already know all about the health risks and the risks to our social and work lives if we continue to stay fat. We know this because we can always count on the condescension of the "concerned" all around us to remind us.

This is none of our business. Isn't this something between her and her doctor? And don't tell me her being fat makes everyone's insurance rates go up. Would you tell that to someone who's disabled or anorexic? Or old?

[dustbunnie]

64. Do people tell you that you're mentally ill? Cause anorexics get that all the time.

If you read skinny threads on DU you'll see they're loaded with pictures of thin women who are to be laughed at and dissected and derided openly. The posts on those threads are positively hateful and filled with bile. As though anorexics and thin people are all responsible for the culture's obsession with thinness. Disabled people are snickered at in the street and openly gawked at by children. Sometimes they get beaten and mugged because their vulnerability is obvious. So, there ya go. It's no picnic for them either.

[Love Bug]

74. I get your points, but are they accused of causing everyone else's

insurance rates to go up? That's the point I was trying to make.

I wasn't suggesting it was a picnic for them. I'm talking about the behavior of others towards those who are overweight.

[Bettie]

91. Children stare at the disabled because they are curious

My kids look and ask questions and we will often go and ask about their disability.

Most of the time people are patient and take the time to talk to the kids. Then we talk about how that person is different...no value judgment, just different.

It takes the mystery out and then they don't even look twice, except to hold a door open or give a hand sometimes.

[dustbunnie]

96. Yes I know. But it doesn't hurt any less.

That woman who was shot in the face who had the face transplant talked at length about what life was like as a "monster" in some interview. One particularly cringe worthy moment I remember was getting coffee in a crowded place when some kid yelled out "lookit how ugly that lady is" to his mother and of course thirty people turned around to "lookit" at a woman who had been burned. Then the mother gave the kid what for which only prolonged the embarrassment for the woman. So, even though it's innocent, it's still painful.

Then there are threads like this where people defend the obese and it's the thin who are referred to as "horseface" and comments are made about how aggravating health nuts are. So really no one is immune from cruelty. Far as I can remember it was the skinny nerdy kids at school who were bullied by the larger kids. The worst bully at our school was built like a linebacker.

[ensho]

68. she should lose weight to protect her health

nt

[TK421]

69. This will be the new Susan Boyle n/t

[Orsino]

71. She'll do it, too.

Or we'll never hear from her again until she ODs or gets her own talk show.

[LynneSin]

72. I was so disappointed with the recent Vanity Fair cover (the one right before Michael Douglas)

Every year Vanity Fair puts on it's cover the rising young stars in Hollywood. Usually an excuse to have Annie Leibowitz photograph young actresses in fancy dudes & settings. Whatever, I subscribe to Vanity Fair for the articles.

These picture usually have 4-5 girls on the actual cover but if you open up the magazine and pull out the flap you'll see that it's 10-12 girls total in the photographs.

Oscar-Nominated Carey Mulligan made the front cover along with 3 other actresses who I guess are pretty decent but not nominated for any recent awards. Pull the flap open and there was Anna Kendrick, who was nominated for Best Supporting Actress.

Not one of those actresses was of any other minority - all were white. And no where found was Gabourey Sidibe, who was also nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress. Mind you, a photo was taken in the magazine and perhaps she just wasn't available. But you can't tell me the future of hollywood actresses are all white.

Gabby is going to have a tough time because of her weight but Gabby also seems like someone very comfortable with her weight. I have a feeling that Gabby will still make it in Hollywood but probably going to be a regular in Tyler Perry movies (he was one of the executive producers of "Precious" so he knows Gabby very well) and perhaps a TV series.

I hope Gabby doesn't change outside of perhaps a little something to keep healthy. I think the girl is talented and beautiful but the extra weight will cause some health issues - so that would be my only concern.

[Javaman]

73. I don't think anyone could have predicted this!

having worked in Hollywood for a long time, to say the least, they are far from tolerant when it comes to people whom THEY consider different.

Not being overweight, but having something visually different about me, I was side lined for a long time as "not fitting in".

If you don't have the perfect skin, the straight teeth, skinny as a bean pole, perfect hair, etc, you will be cast aside as being second, third or forth class.

I was so hoping she would win. It would have broken through the glass ceiling of what those morons out there consider "pretty" or "acceptable".

Fuck them.

I sincerely hope she goes onto an amazing career.

Living well is the best revenge.

[gatorboy]

75. But a man posing as a woman in a fat suit is perfectly fine!

[Scout]

77. +1000 n/t

[Love Bug]

80. Or even a woman in a fat suit is ok

In fact, she's lauded as being "brave." Whatever.

[MrMickeysMom]

82. Good point, gatorboy...

It's supposed to be like stand-up, right? "Your momma is SOOO fat..."

[OneTenthofOnePercent]

93. A man posing as a woman in a fat suit is versatility.

A woman posing as man (or woman) in a fat suit is versatility.

Unless she loses a ton of weight, she's limiting the number of roles she can play in.
The facts are there are really not a whole lot of opportunity for very large actors... the occurrence of such characters is rare.
It's a logistical statement that if she wants excel she will have to drop the caboose.

[marshall]

76. There is a ton of work in voice over acting

You don't have to spend hours in costume and makeup and you can eat however much you want.

[Freddie Stubbs]

78. Apperently there aren't many morbidly obese roles in movies

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

79. The action and dancing movie genres are particularly insensitive towards morbidly obese people.

:eyes:

[Love Bug]

81. When's the last time anyone told Tom Hanks, Alec Baldwin or Dan Ackroyd to lose weight?

I thought so. Even John Candy, who was very overweight (and yes, it did kill him, but that's not my point) was not told publically to lose weight to get better roles.

It's like how Simon Cowell told one of the American Idol female contestants (I think it was Jennifer Hudson, but I could be wrong) to lose weight but never says a thing to any overweight male. In other words, it's a double standard.

[Warren Stupidity]

95. "and yes, it did kill him, but that's not my point" nt.

[Mari333]

86. the majority of people in this country are over 50

try finding a movie role for an older woman

so far it's all about skinny idiots who are 30 or less age wise

and people wonder why I dont go to movies.

if hollywood wants to sell their goddamned movies they need to look at demographics.

as for this kid, good for her. if hollywood cant find a role for her, they need to change.

[cbdo2007]

87. This is like after celebrities die of a drug overdose and everyone says - where was their family???

To help them and stop them from something that may kill them....

Yet in this case, most people think everyone should mind their own business.

She isn't a little bit over weight. She is dangerously obese and it isn't normal or healthy and in 10 years she'll die of heart disease and all the same people defending her now will say "this is horrible, how could her friends and family have let her get so huge!! Someone should have said something!!"

Everyone is saying it now so hopefully she'll live another 60 years instead of 10 and maybe she'll even get some more movie roles in the mean time.

[kktk5950]

94. Just Sad