Gwyneth Paltrow’s plus-size Shallow Hal body double Ivy Snitzer reveals she was left ‘starving to DEATH’ after undergoing weight loss surgery amid eating disorder battle
The woman who played Gwyneth Paltrow’s plus-size body double in Shallow Hall has told how after the film’s release in 2001, weight loss surgery left her “starving.”
Ivy Snitzer, 42, from Pennsylvania, was a 20-year-old aspiring actress and comedian when she was hired as a stand-in in the highly criticized rom-com about Hal Larson (Jack Black), a superficial man who has been hypnotized. to see only the inner beauty of people.
Paltrow wore a fat suit throughout the movie to play Hal’s 300-pound love interest, Rosemary Shanahan, with Snitzer as her body double.
Shallow Hal has long been criticized for his fat-phobic premise, but Snitzer explained in a interview with Amelia Tait that at the time the plot “felt progressive” because it featured an obese woman who was “cool” and “popular.”
Ivy Snitzer, 42, from Pennsylvania, opened up about Gwyneth Paltrow’s plus-size body double in Shallow Hal in an interview with Amelia Tait
Paltrow wore a fat suit throughout the film to play Hal’s 300-pound love interest, Rosemary Shanahan (left), with Snitzer as her stand-in. Snitzer is pictured at the 2001 premiere (right)
The former actress said she was happy on set and recalled how Paltrow and Jack Black were both encouraging and kind to her during filming.
She described her time on set as a positive experience, saying that the entire cast and crew treated her well and made her “really comfortable” while her body was being filmed.
However, after the movie was released, she became a target for strangers who accused her of promoting obesity. She was sent everything from diet pills to love letters.
Fifteen months later, she underwent hip belt surgery to reduce the size of her stomach after a doctor warned her she wouldn’t live to be 40 without the procedure.
Snitzer told Tait she thought the procedure was a “fantastic” idea β “something that will fix (my weight).”
She recalled trying to be a “good fat guy,” saying she restricted her calories, exercised excessively, and even purged to speed up her weight loss.
“If you’re fat, you should try not to be,” she explained. βI hated my body, as I should. I ate a lot of salads. I had eating disorders that I was very proud of.’
Shortly after surgery, she suffered a gastric torsion after her hip belt slipped off and she was unable to consume anything but diluted fluids or she would vomit.
She said she was “starving to death” and was so malnourished that she needed a PICC line to feed her before her lap band was removed.
Struggling with eating disorders, Snitzer underwent hip belt surgery to reduce the size of her stomach 15 months after the movie was released
Due to a complication after the procedure, she starved to death and has to eat small portions to this day
“If you’re fat, you should try not to be,” she explained. βI hated my body, as I should. I ate a lot of salads. I had eating disorders that I was very proud of’
Snitzer noticed that when she was sick and emaciated, people smiled at her and treated her better than when she was obese.
After further complications, she underwent a gastric bypass to remove part of her stomach. To this day, she can only consume small portions and cannot eat and drink at the same time.
However, she said she has no regrets about the surgery and is no longer so preoccupied with how much she eats.
Snitzer, who now runs her own insurance agency, claimed she was happy filming Shallow Hal and thought it was a fun story to share.
βIt didn’t make me feel bad about myself. Until you know it, other people started telling me that I probably should have felt bad about myself,” she said.