Calista Flockhart is looking back at the painful rumors about her weight that followed her for years during her time on Ally McBeal. In an interview with the New York Times, Flockhart, who famously starred as the titular character in the series from 1997 to 2002, opened up about how the frequent speculation that she suffered from anorexia affected her mental health and career.
Calista Forthart says she was embarrassed and infuriated by the anorexia rumors
During an interview with the New York Times, Calista Flockhart, who starred in the popular TV series, Ally McBeal, from 1997 to 2002, revealed that the rumored anorexia had a significant impact on her mental health and career.
"I was an easy target, I guess," Flockhart recalled. "It was painful, it was complicated. I loved working on Ally McBeal, and it just made it sour. I was very sleep-deprived and I was depressed about it. I did think that it was going to ruin my career. I didn’t think anybody would ever hire me again, because they would just assume I had anorexia, and that would be the end of that.”
Advertisement"I had days where I was really hurt and embarrassed and infuriated," she added. "I was lucky that I had to work. I just put my head down. I always felt like, 'Calista, you’re a good person, you’re not mean to anybody,' and I'm confident in that."
Flockhart refuted the assumption that people would make about her weight if she starred in Ally McBeal today. "I don't think that would ever happen today," she said. "They call it body-shaming now. I haven’t thought about it in a long time, but it’s really not OK to accuse someone of having a disease that a lot of people struggle with."
"It wasn't the case, and there was nothing I could do to convince anybody or get out of it," the 59-year-old actress added. "If I had worn a big padded bra, they probably would never have been able to target me in that way. I look back at pictures, and I'm the same then as I am now, and nobody says a word now."
Calista Flockhart says she and her husband Harrison Ford play practical jokes on each other
Harrison Ford and Calista Flockhart maintain a playful and enjoyable atmosphere at home by incorporating practical jokes. During the interview, Flockhart opened up about their life together and said she often refers to herself as the Scare Monster when they’re at their house. “Because I hide behind every corner,” the Ally McBeal alum explained. “And so Harrison will walk in, and then I’ll go, ‘Raaah!’ And he’ll go, ‘W-uy-aah!’ And then I die laughing.”
She continued about their pranks, “I’ll put a plastic spider inside his big ice cubes in the tray, and then he’ll drink it. But then I’ll go to bed two weeks later, and he’s out of town in Jackson, and I’ll take the covers down and there’s this little rubber scorpion. It’s fun.”
Ford and Flockhart tied the knot in 2010 after they met eight years prior at the Golden Globe Awards in 2002.
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