Size Matters: Where's the love for real women's bodies?

When Melanie Lynskey was cast on last year's breakout hit Yellowjackets, no one at Showtime or on the creative team said anything about the way her character, Shauna — a housewife who survived a harrowing plane crash as a teen — should look. In fact, the only real note came from director/exec producer Karyn Kusama, who asked Lynskey to ease up on the hair color so more of her grays would appear on camera.

"She really wanted us to look like people who have lived," recalls Lynskey, 44. "I haven't dyed my hair for six years. I was like, 'Sorry, I don't have any more to give.'"

Imagine the actress' surprise, then, when a member of the production team approached her on set — several times — and made comments about her size, adding that producers would "love" to get her a trainer.

"There was a part of me that thought, 'Wow. Even when I'm number one on the call sheet this is happening,'" says Lynskey. (She won't reveal who the individual is other than to say that person is no longer employed by the show.) "It's something I've been fighting against since I was 13 years old, and I can't believe that we're still talking about it."

Girl, same. Lynskey is not the only actress speaking out about Hollywood's outdated and harmful standard of beauty. In an epic Twitter thread in January, Allison Tolman (Why Women Kill) called upon writers and showrunners to stop using "unkind" body descriptors and fat jokes in scripts.

"I'm not saying you shouldn't use adjectives. But please don't say 'Linda, the main character's cousin, thin and witty,' unless there's an actual reason Linda needs to be thin," she wrote. "And please don't say 'Fat Lady in Theater' when you mean 'Annoying Lady in Theater.'"

At the same time, Bridgerton's Nicola Coughlan implored fans to stop commenting on the way she looks playing gossip queen Penelope Featherington. "Actors are just playing human beings, and human beings look like a million different things," she told EW in 2020. "There's not just one type of person, so I don't see why there should be just one type of actor on screen, either."

This complaint is not new, of course. As far back as 1930, when director Josef von Sternberg told an already svelte Marlene Dietrich to slim down for Morocco, actresses have been pushed to lose weight. While changing times have led Hollywood to work toward inclusion on several fronts — race, sexuality, neurodiversity — body-type representation lags way behind for women. Most women on TV today are still sample size, and it wasn't long ago that executives would question an actress' "f---ability" during casting calls. Says one former broadcast network casting exec, "All I kept hearing was how people want to see an attractive person on television. They wanted to see idealized versions of themselves." In fact, Lynskey remembers a costume designer once "having a fit" when her frame didn't conform to the Hollywood norm. "He just said, 'Nobody told me there were big girls like you on this movie.' I was a size 6!" she recalls. "He was furious. I was so ashamed of my body after hearing that. I was like, 'Oh my God, I'm gonna get fired.'"

Thankfully, the days of white male execs eyeballing actresses at open "cattle calls" are mostly a thing of the past, in part because more women are making the creative decisions. According to a 2021 study of female representation in entertainment by San Diego State University professor Dr. Martha M. Lauzen, women comprised 33 percent of behind-the-scenes talent (including creators, directors, writers, and executive producers) on streaming programs and 31 percent on broadcast shows in 2020-21. And with more outlets producing original fare, there are opportunities for a wider variety of talent. "We are opening doors for everyone," says veteran casting director Bonnie Zane (Suits). "But the final decision is not going to be ours."

That means networks need more executives willing to greenlight shows like HBO's Somebody Somewhere, a comedy about a fortysomething Kansas woman facing an identity crisis. The series, starring and exec-produced by Bridget Everett (Inside Amy Schumer), has received raves from fans for both the story and the fact that her character's size is simply a nonissue. Viewers are clearly willing to watch more than idealized versions of women, whether its Everett or Yellowjackets' Shauna.

Though Lynskey says some fans were "bracing themselves" for her character to fret about her weight, it never happened. Shauna, who married her handsome high school sweetheart, had more important things on her mind — like her steamy affair with a hot artist. "It's important for me to tell a story of a woman who's more regularly sized having this love triangle with these two men," says the actress. "I wish I'd seen something like that when I was a teenager."

But she takes comfort in knowing that Shauna is inspiring viewers today: "I've heard from women who say this is the first time they've seen their body [type] on TV and in a leading role. She's not the chubby friend and nobody's asking her to change her body. It's making an impact on their mental health. The feedback I've received is the reason I'll keep talking about it."

Related content:

• Melanie Lynskey was body-shamed on the set of Yellowjackets — but her costars were having none of that
• Yellowjackets team answers all our questions about Lottie, cults — and season 2
• Lady Whistledown is back in full force in Bridgerton season 2 tease