“The Hunting Wives” star Brittany Snow is getting candid about the origins of the eating disorder she struggled with as a teen.
“It was very based on connection to achievement,” Snow shared on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast regarding her relationship with food. “I got a milkshake if I did well on an audition, and I wouldn’t get a milkshake if I didn’t do well.”
“I think my reward center got all mixed up,” the actor explained. “Couple that with the terrible amount of societal norms of how you look at yourself being a woman … that was hard.”
Snow recovered from her disordered eating after being hospitalized at age 19, which she wrote about in a 2007 essay for People. “IÂ was about 110 lbs. when I went in. Being anorexic doesnât necessarily mean youâre on the brink of death,” she wrote. “It can mean that you were once at a dangerous weight and that mentality is still with you.”
Snow’s Co-Stars Helped With Her Recovery
Snow revealed in her essay that she left treatment early to film the movie “John Tucker Must Die.” Although she was at a healthy weight, the film’s producers wanted her to be thinner, so they had her work with a personal trainer.
Snow credited her co-stars Sophia Bush and Arielle Kebbel with keeping her from falling back into unhealthy habits. “I told them, ‘You have to look out for me, because this is so hard,’” she shared. “We would work out together and then they would pull me off the treadmill, and Sophia would be like, ‘Maybe you should eat this!’âÂ
Snow slowly began to feel better as she spent time with Bush and Kebbel. “We had slumber parties. I started having fun, which was unheard of,” she explained. “Before, it was, ‘I canât have fun. I canât go eat a burger with my friends. How many calories are in that burger?’”
During Snow’s interview on “Call Her Daddy” she reflected on how she had altered her thinking when it came to eating. “I had to redefine how food was not evil and it was also not something to be earned,” she said.
The Real Reason Snow Took a Break From Acting
GettyThe public’s reaction to Snow’s essay in People was much less supportive than she expected. âI think there was still a stigma around sharing so much truth, and it kind of got seen as me being self-indulgent or trying to gain attention,â she shared with InStyle in 2019.
As a result, she stepped away from the spotlight and focused on her well-being. Now Snow is starring in a hit show and she recently made her directorial debut with the 2023 film “Parachute.” Snow co-wrote the movie and incorporated many of her own experiences into the story.
Her reason for wanting to make the film was to connect to others struggling with similar issues. “I didn’t have a movie like that when I was going through it,” Snow shared. “I thought I was very alone in it.”
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