“Beverly Hills, 90210” star Jennie Garth has bravely detailed the toll that fame took on her body image.
In her memoir “I Choose Me: Chasing Joy, Finding Purpose, and Embracing Reinvention,” Garth opened up about how the pressures of being a young star in Hollywood affected her self-image.
Garth “Faced Harsh Judgements” For Her Role
GettyGarth started on the hit series in 1990, playing the “spoiled teen vixen” Kelly Taylor, per PEOPLE.
In her memoir, she revealed that examining Kelly’s body image storylines also forced her to go through her own self-reflection.
“I never imagined that stepping into a character’s shoes would start to define how I saw my own reflection,” she shared.
“When I began… on ‘Beverly Hills, 90210,’ I hadn’t dealt with the body image issues in my real life. Those storylines – Kelly dieting, feeling insecure, being praised or scrutinized for her looks – were foreign to me.”
However, she approached these stories “as an actress does: with imagination and curiosity.”
In addition, critiques of Kelly – and Garth – at the time were “harsh.”
“Just like Kelly, I faced harsh judgments and struggled to maintain my mental health,” she said.
“The messages on the show – whether in the script or in my head – began to blur the line between character and self.”
Garth First Had Plastic Surgery At 24
GettyGarth received a breast augmentation at 24, believing “this was just what you did at a certain age.” She also received liposuction on her hips around the same time.
She believes it was in part due to the “heroin chic” trend of extremely thin body types that was prevalent in the ’90s, which caused her to believe that her natural curves were “problems I needed to fix.”
“I wanted to disappear into the version of beauty that was being sold to all of us at the time: small, effortless, waif-like. And I thought if I could just carve myself into that image, maybe I’d finally feel like enough,” she wrote in a poignant statement.
In a recent video posted by PEOPLE, it appears Garth has accepted her natural body.
“There’s no such thing as anti-aging,” she said. “I take really good care of myself. I am very intentional about certain self-care things that I do.”
According to Garth, this includes “eating well, getting great sleep, drinking enough water… I take that very seriously.”
“I kind of try to look into my own eyes and really get into the soul of me, and appreciate life,” she continued.
“It comes down to gratitude of like, ‘Oh my God, look at what you have done in your life. You are a success. You’ve done great things and there’s so much more for you.'”
