It’s really great to have mainstream entertainment tackle real issues that afflict victims silenced by the disease and shame. After Netflix’s Thirteen Reasons Why that brought to the fore teenage suicide, the streaming channel is introducing a brand new social topic – anorexia. Starring British actress Lily Collins, To The Bone is a story about a battle with the eating disorder. It’s a subject closer to home for the star, since she has previously admitted to suffering from anorexia earlier in life.
Lily Collins plays 20 year old Ellen who is shipped off to rehab by her family to tackle anorexia. In the beginning she feels like it’s going to be like her other stints in rehab that failed her in the past. However, she is greeted by her contemporaries, strong-willed survivors and her eccentric doctor, played by Keanu Reeves. The actress lost a significant amount of weight for her role to make it more believable. She also puts her own troubled experiences into play, considering that she also suffered from anorexia and body dysmorphia before. The script is raw and real and will relate to those who have had body image issues and struggled with rapid weight loss due to a poor diet, brought on by mental issues.
She spoke about the upcoming Netflix original, To The Bone in a candid interview, saying: “When I got the script, it wasn’t something that I was talking about yet. It was this fear being placed right in front of me, and doing the film meant that I would have to face it head-on. At first it was definitely a scary process. It was something that I thought is risky, because there’s a fine line between facing something head-on and succeeding, or falling back into it. But I knew that, this time, I would be held accountable for it. I would be [losing weight] under the supervision of a nutritionist and surrounded by all these amazing women on set. So, I knew that I would be in a safe environment to explore this.”
“I had just written the chapter in my book [Unfiltered: No Shame, No Regrets, Just Me] about my history with eating disorders the week before I received the script for this movie. So it was like the universe literally throwing it in my face saying, this is something you need to address either for yourself or for other young people going through it out there.”
To The Bone starring Lily Collins will premiere on Netflix on July 14, 2017.
Image Credit: IMDb.com
