Ashley Benson Was Deemed "Too Fat" For A Role

In a world where "Hollywood's worst bikini bodies" is front page news, it can be damn hard to feel confident in your own skin. Though most us can admit to feeling the pressure to look a certain way or fit into a specific size, celebrities are the ones whose bodies are often looked at under a microscope. Pretty Little Liars star Ashley Benson knows this all too well, and recently admitted to Ocean Drive magazine that she, too, has been criticized for her body type — and not just by the tabloids. During her interview with the magazine, Benson revealed she was deemed "too fat" for a role, proving that we really do live in a world that ridiculous.

Rejection comes with the territory of being an actress, but there's something particularly disgusting about an actress being denied a role because of their body size. Fortunately, Benson thinks so, too, "I was just told I was too fat for a part... I’m a size 2! I cried for 30 minutes, but then you have to let it roll off your shoulders or it could cause a serious eating disorder."

Benson clearly didn't let the comments from the producers get her down, and it's great that she's able to separate body standard BS from valid criticism about her acting. Still, the fact that an actress like Benson was denied a role because of her weight is upsetting on a broader scale: it's a reminder that, for the most part, Hollywood only allows certain bodies to be deemed worthy of visibility, and that even figures that you would think would fit within that already narrow range can be deemed "too fat."

While there may be stars who break the mold in terms of body types represented in the mainstream media, for the most part, the stars we see onscreen are still uniformly slim. We may consciously know that what we see on TV and in film isn't reality, but the lack of body diversity in our media certainly doesn't help the average person see themselves onscreen.

For actresses, it's all too easy to stay silent on the subject, especially when they are still getting roles and being praised for their body type. Still, the line is thin: if Benson is allegedly walking the line of having an unacceptable body type in Hollywood, all actresses are at risk for having their body policed. It's time more people follow Benson's suit by calling out the industry on these ridiculous standards, because, ultimately, they harm everyone.