Alicia Silverstone said she “stopped loving acting” after being body-shamed during Batman & Robin
After Alicia Silverstone‘s breakout role as Cher Horowitz in Clueless, she became one of the brightest young actors in Hollywood. But Silverstone just revealed that she “stopped loving acting for a very long time” after experiencing body shaming when she played Batgirl in 1997’s Batman & Robin. At the time, she was only 19.
In a new interview with The Guardian, Silverstone opened up about being the subject of objectification and scrutiny about her body when she was a teenager. She said specifically that playing Batgirl “definitely wasn’t [her] favorite filmmaking experience” due to the press criticizing her weight.
As Silverstone explained, “They would make fun of my body when I was younger. It was hurtful, but I knew they were wrong.”
“I wasn’t confused,” she continued. “I knew that it was not right to make fun of someone’s body shape, that doesn’t seem like the right thing to be doing to a human.”
Silverstone described some seriously gross incidents: paparazzi taunting her by calling her “Batgirl” pun names (we’ll let you work that one out rather than write it here), journalists asking for her bra size in interviews, and more. It all affected her longtime love of acting.
“There were working circumstances that were less than favorable in terms of how things went down,” the Clueless star said. “And no, I didn’t say ‘fuck you’ and come out like a warrior, but I would just walk away and go, ‘okay, I know what that is and I’m done; I’m not going near that again.’”
It wasn’t until 2006, when she began acting on stage, that she rediscovered her love for her craft.
“My body was just like, this is what I’m meant to do, I love it so much, I need to find a way to do both, to be able to be an actress and be an activist at the same time,” she said. “So that’s what I did.”
Now, it seems she only takes on acting projects that she truly loves. As she told The Guardian, “I hope to be doing theater until I’m dead.” Our hearts hurt to hear all that she went through—especially at such a young age. But we appreciate her speaking out about her experiences, so that, hopefully, others don’t have to go through the same thing.
