Alison Brie says training for 'GLOW' helped her battle with body dysmorphia: 'It took the motivation out of being skinny'
Alison Brie’s work on the Netflix hit series GLOW may be coming to an end with its fourth and final season. But the 37-year-old actress is opening up about how her training for the show has changed her life forever.
“It helped with my relationship to my body times a million,” Brie tells Women’s Health magazine for the May cover. “Before, I always felt at odds with it; I wanted it to be something it wasn’t. But I didn’t have the tools to do that in a healthy way.”
The actress told the magazine about how she used to view her body and has even looked at old red carpet photos to reflect on how poorly she felt about herself. “An hour before that I was in tears,” she recalls of certain public appearances. “I thought I was so disgusting.” Now, however, that perspective has changed as a result of cultivating a more productive outlook on fitness and health. “It took the motivation out of being skinny for Hollywood standards and made it about being strong for lifting other women, literally,” she said of training to portray a women’s wrestler. “There was a real goal.”
Brie has even used her social media to show off the strength that she’s built through training for GLOW. And beyond aesthetic changes that have come from gaining muscle, she noted that working out has become an outlet for her when struggling with mental health.
“When I’ve been in a really serious depression, I’ll drag myself to a yoga class — even if I don’t want to be around people — tears streaming down my face. But, Get in class, get out of your head, get blood flowing. It ends up helping eventually,” she said.
Brie also explained how her husband, Dave Franco, has allowed her to speak more openly about her personal struggles and to even gain an outside perspective. “It’s been funny talking to him about it,” she explained. “He said, ‘Before I knew you, I’m not sure I believed body dysmorphia was a real thing. It’s so interesting to me what you see — and what I’m seeing when I’m looking at you — and the frank discussions we have about it.’”
Simply put, Brie said that the changes she’s seen in herself as a result of the show won’t go away once shooting ends. “It’s part of me forever,” she said.
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