The efforts put in by actors are evident on screen, but what about those who just became their shadows and never get the recognition they deserve? Here, we’re talking about body double artists who put in all their effort yet fail to get the recognition they deserve. Something almost similar happened with Gwyneth Paltrow’s body double, Ivy Snitzer.
Snitzer’s body doubled for Paltrow’s role in the 2001 film Shallow Hal, but her appearance garnered attention for all sorts of wrong reasons. During an interview, Snitzer claimed that after filming the movie, she faced severe criticism from the public, which made her life a living hell.
Gwyneth Paltrow’s Body Double Faces Trouble after Appearing in Shallow Hal
The 2001 film Shallow Hal featured Jack Black in the titular role of Hal, alongside Gwyneth Paltrow, who portrayed the character of Rosemary, an overweight woman. The romantic comedy film revolves around the characters of Hal and Rosemary, who fall in love after Hal realizes that beauty goes beyond physical appearance.
Since Gwyneth played the role of an overweight woman, she had to wear a fat body suit to get into character. Moreover, for close-up scenes, Gwyneth had a body double named Ivy Snitzer. Previously, in an interview, Snitzer talked about her experience of working in the film. She said that she had a good time filming the movie, but the moment the film was released, her life turned into a nightmare. Snitzer said,
“It didn’t occur to me that the film would be seen by millions of people. Oh my God, it was like the worst parts about being fat were magnified.”
She claimed that she faced severe criticism, as people accused her of promoting obesity. Things got ugly when someone found her address and mailed her diet pills.
“I got really scared and I just got really small. I was like: maybe I’m done with the concept of fame, maybe I don’t want to be an actor. Maybe I’ll do something else.”
The attention she garnered after appearing in Shallow Hal severely affected her mental health. To lose weight, she started starving herself to the point of endangering her life. She said,
“I hated my body the way I was supposed to. I ate a lot of salads. I had eating disorders that I was very proud of.”
All those unsolicited opinions of people affected her so badly that her perception of herself changed completely. She started finding ways to reduce her size and got lap-band surgery in 2003. Unfortunately, the surgery went wrong, and she couldn’t consume anything thicker than water without vomiting it out. Ultimately, she got health insurance and had surgery to fix this issue.
Gwyneth Paltrow Claims Shallow Hal as Her Least Favorite Performance
Though Shallow Hal was a commercial success, it received mixed reviews from critics. There was also a fraction of the audience that criticized the film for its depiction of obese people. The film’s lead protagonist, Gwyneth Paltrow, was also not content with her performance in the film, as the drastic change in her appearance made her unrecognizable. During an interview, the actress said,
“No one would even look at me. If I was walking by a table, you know how naturally you just glance up. But people would see that I was heavy in their peripheral vision and not look because I think they assume that’s the polite thing to do. It was incredibly isolating and really lonely and sad.”
In an interview in 2020, Paltrow called her performance in Shallow Hal a “disaster,” claiming that it was the least favorite performance of her career.
Source: The Waiting Room, LA Times
