Lily Collins has opened up about her past struggle with eating disorders. During the promotional tour for her upcoming film, To The Bone, at the Sundance Film Festival, the 27-year-old revealed how she bonded with her latest character due to her previous battle with food.
"This was definitely a more dramatic role for me, I suffered with eating disorders when I was a teenager as well," she explained, via People. "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 was putting these things in my sphere to help me face, kind of dead on, a fear that I used to have."
Lily Collins has opened up about her past struggle with eating disorders
Lily - who stars in the film as Ellen, a young woman battling anorexia - had to undergo a transformation, where she had to lose weight. However, this time the actress had the help of a nutritionist. "It caused me to have to emotionally go there, but in a way that was the most safe, healthy way possible with a nutritionist, and really to physically go there," she added. "It also required a different set of emotional skills, to kind of go back in time for me, with my experiences. So it was definitely a different type of film for me to do, very, very personal."
"Owning my past, being open, and having no shame or regrets about my experiences," she said
After talking about her previous battle at the event, Lily took to her Instagram page to thank her fans for their support by sharing a lovely picture of herself jumping for joy in the snow. "Chilled to the bone but feeling so free," the daughter of singer Phil Collins captioned the snap. "What a huge moment this is for me. Owning my past, being open, and having no shame or regrets about my experiences. Sharing my history with eating disorders and how personal this film has been is one of the most fulfilling experiences of my life."
To The Bone is based on the real-life experiences of writer/director Marti Noxon, who also dealt with an eating disorder in her past. The movie also stars Keanu Reeves, playing Lily's doctor.