Lily Collins Shares Her Past Struggles With An Eating Disorder

Lily Collins has opened up about suffering from an eating disorder in the past. In an interview with IMDb, the actress, who stars in the Sundance Film Festival entry “To the Bone,” shared her experience, saying the role was something personal and “more dramatic” for her to portray.

“I wrote a book last year and I wrote my chapter on my experiences a week before I got Marti's script and it was like the universe putting these things in my sphere to help me face, kind of dead on, a fear that I used to have,” she said. “And a way to explain it as someone who's gone through it and to open up a topic that is considered quite taboo with young people nowadays, male, female, and to really start a conversation.”

Collins said that she had to lose weight for the role, which is a young woman who has anorexia, but she sought the help of a nutritionist for it. The actress also said that she had to go back to some of the feelings that she felt when she was in the same situation.

It's refreshing to see that many celebrities are starting to speak out about their experience with an eating disorder. “Pretty Little Liars” star Troian Bellisario has been rather vocal about her battle. The actress even starred in a public service announcement to raise awareness for the illness.

On why she decided to come out with the truth, the actress told The Cut: “That was very important because the fans of my show are young women, so I knew that there would be a number of them who would definitely be dealing with disordered eating, whether in fact it was a mental illness or eating disorder. So I thought it was important that I speak out about my recovery process and seeking treatment.”

Bellisario first spoke about her battle with anorexia in an interview with Seventeen magazine in 2014.