I love Jenna Fischer’s MySpace page. She’s dishy and personal and honest and awesome. I remember back when Angela Kinsey just had her baby, and she and Jenna had this back-and-forth on their MySpace pages where they would torture each other. Jenna would brag about how much sleep she was getting, and in turn, Angela would brag about everything she was eating. It was a nice reminder that some celebrities, like Jenna, are very honest about having to work hard to maintain their weight, whereas others, like Angela, are just naturally very petite. (Also, it was incredibly cute.)

Now she’s posting a little bit of behind-the-scenes info on the SELF magazine cover (the Fug Girls said that the people at SELF “appear to have photoshopped her face to the point where it looks like each of her eyes is from a totally different picture — and, indeed, perhaps a totally DIFFERENT PERSON.” They did not like the cover. Hee.) Jenna says:

I think one of the reasons you see actresses being so crazy about their weight is because, in this business, if you gain or lose weight – even just a couple of pounds – you don’t get to do it privately. Ladies, you know how much you hate trying on jeans or pants at a department store. Imagine doing that in front of a group of people all judging how you look – and watching whether or not you can fit them over your thighs.

Also, designers make dresses in something called a “sample size” – which is essentially a size 4. This is what they send to stylists for photo shoots. The dresses are often hot off the runway and not yet in stores so they only make a few and they make them all in this “sample size”. If you aren’t a “sample size” your choice of dresses goes way down. It’s the same way for award shows. For TV or movies it’s different because they buy most of the clothes in stores so you have more flexibility. Luckily Pam has the kind of wardrobe that can hide a few Christmas cookies, but imagine if you are on a show like Desperate Housewives where you have to wear high fashion outfits each day. So much pressure!

She also talks about the 10-day challenge that the magazine editors had her do, which I first read about on Crazy Days and Nights:

She did this thing for SELF magazine where she let them photoshop her to a point where her own family wouldn’t recognize her, and then made her follow some regimen which had her using a crock pot and how it improved her sex life because she and her boyfriend could come home and eat right away and still have time left over for sex after. I hate these kind of articles and am utterly dismayed and shocked that Jenna let herself be talked into one.

I love Jenna Fischer, which is why I haven’t picked up that issue of SELF. I know it would just piss me off. I mean look at the cover: two of the most promiment headlines are “LOVE YOUR BODY SECRETS (Feel Sexier At Any Size)” and “LOSE INCHES ALL OVER (You’ll Be Slimmer In Just 18 Minutes A Day).” I think I love my body more because I don’t read SELF. And Jenna doesn’t address the issue of being photoshopped at all, even though it seems pretty obvious that they did in fact photoshop the hell out of her.

Still, it’s refreshing to have a celebrity talk openly about her perspective on things like weight and magazine shoots, and I think in general, Jenna seems very down-to-earth and honest. And I’d rather not know if she’s faking it. (That’s what she said.)

Posted by mo pie

Filed under: Gossip, Magazines, Media, Photoshop, The Office, TV