Ashley Benson is a talented actor who’s appeared in several hit projects, including Pretty Little Liars. But shockingly, there was a time when Benson was told she was “too fat” for a role, despite being a size two.
Ashley Benson is most known for her role as Hannah Marin in ‘Pretty Little Liars’
Benson began her career as a child model in television commercials. She then made her acting debut in the NBC daytime soap opera Days of Our Lives, playing the role of Abigail Deveraux from 2004 to 2007. After her successful stint on the show, she went on to land minor roles in films such as 13 Going on 30 and Bring It On: In It to Win It.
In 2010, Benson was cast as Hanna Marin in the ABC Family teen drama series Pretty Little Liars. This was her breakout role, and she went on to portray the character for seven seasons until the show’s finale in 2017. During this time, she also appeared in films such as Spring Breakers and Pixels.
Some of Benson’s most recent films include The Birthday Cake, Private Property, and The Loneliest Boy in the World. She’s also set to star in the 2023 action movie American Metal opposite John Travolta, Kevin Dillon, Stephen Dorff, and Shiloh Fernandez.
Ashley Benson was told she was ‘too fat’ for a role at size 2
Benson opened up about some of her Hollywood experiences in a chat with Ocean Drive in 2016. The actor recalled how she had been body shamed after an audition and revealed how she handled the unwarranted criticism.
“I was just told I was too fat for a part,” she shared, as reported by Elle. “I’m a size two! I cried for 30 minutes, but then you have to let it roll off your shoulders, or it could cause a serious eating disorder.”
“A lot of people in this industry hear they need to lose weight more times than they should,” she continued. “It does make you stronger, though. Because if you let that affect you, you can’t be in this industry — you’d go crazy.”
Benson once shared a selfie sporting a face covered in zit cream. She talked about how most of the professional photos fans see are edited to hide blemishes. And noted that she posted the picture to “show people I’m not perfect — no one is.”
“I hate to think that girls are like, ‘She’s so skinny! Her skin is so perfect!’,” Benson said. “I have pimples just like they do.”
Ashley Benson reveals the pressure to be ‘skin and bones’
In 2016, Benson was featured on the cover of Health Magazine and chatted with the outlet about her perspective on health. The actor revealed that she’s been criticized for her weight repeatedly. And she acknowledged that some industry expectations are both unhealthy and unreasonable.
“I get told all the time to lose weight,” Benson said via E! News. “I got that a month ago. It’s just weird. With my stuff recently, it’s been, ‘You have to be skin and bones, or you’re not getting it.'”
“It’s come up a few times in the last few years, like, ‘You’re too fat for this,'” she added. “And I’m just sitting here like, ‘Wait, what? Do you want a skeleton?’ But I feel good. I don’t want to lose 20 pounds because I don’t need to — I’m a size two, but I think that a size four is healthy. I think that all of these sizes are healthy.”
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