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Kat Dennings Opens Up About Being Fat-Shamed At 12: 'It Was Very Harsh'
Kat Dennings reflects on the negativity and criticism in her early Hollywood experiences as a child actor, and how she overcame it through resilience.
Kat Dennings has recently opened up about how painful it was to receive harsh criticism as a child actor in Hollywood. Before having starred in hits like 2 Broke Girls, Kat began her acting journey with stints in Sex and the City and The 40-Year-Old Virgin. The actress recalled being fat-shamed when she got in auditions.
Dennings described a casting environment that was far from inclusive when she was younger. Instead, it was usually blunt and negative. At the age of 12, she remembered that casting directors, through her manager, told her that she was "not pretty enough" and criticized her weight.
The Shifting Gears star said to People, "The time that I was auditioning and starting to act, it was a very different environment than it is now. There was not a lot of inclusivity at all. It was very harsh. There was a lot of extremely negative feedback, and people would not hold back."
Dennings elaborated, "For example, I was 12. I'd go into an audition and I'd do it, and my manager would call me and I'd be like, 'How'd it go?' And they'd be like, 'Well, they thought you weren't pretty enough and you're fat.'"
The Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist actress remained strong, though. She credits her parents with keeping her confident because they always told her that such remarks were baseless. Instead of discouraging her, they motivated her to prove the critics wrong.
Dennings reflected on those early experiences, saying she could not believe such comments were directed at a kid. She acknowledged that Hollywood has made progress since then, especially in the current focus on body positivity, inclusivity, and representation. Those things were not around when she started her career. She noted, "There was none of that before. It was really gross."
However, the resilient Thor star did not let those comments impact her negatively. She said, "For some reason, it didn't break my spirit. I was like, 'I'll show them.'"
Kat Dennings now stars alongside Tim Allen in the critically acclaimed ABC sitcom Shifting Gears. The father-daughter comedy show airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT.
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