Lily Collins has opened up about her secret battle with an eating disorder, claiming her past insecurities stemmed from her famous father, singer Phil Collins. The 27-year-old - who plays a young woman battling anorexia in her latest film, To The Bone - explained how she used to binge on "every type of junk food possible," which forced her to throw up and exercise obsessively. "My hair and nails became brittle," she wrote in her memoir Unfiltered: No Shame, No Regrets, Just Me, serialised by The Times Magazine. "My throat burnt and my oesophagus ached. My period stopped for a couple of years."
The star also admitted that she was "terrified" she had "ruined my chances of having kids". In her new, candid book - which will be released next month - Lily opens up about her struggle with anorexia, where she reveals her battle stems back to her father's divorce from her stepmother, Phil's third wife Orianne Cevey. "Many of my deepest insecurities stem from these issues with my dad," she added.
© Photo: Getty ImagesLily Collins has opened up about her secret battle with an eating disorder
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Earlier this year, during the promotional tour for her upcoming film at the Sundance Film Festival, the actress opened up for the first time about 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."
© Photo: Getty ImagesThe star claimed her insecurities stemmed from her famous father, singer Phil Collins
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For the film, Lily 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." 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.
