Kat Dennings tackled extremely rude comments from casting directors in the ’90s. In an interview with People, the 2 Broke Girls star highlighted the stark differences between the environment in the acting industry then and now. The 38-year-old also revealed how she faced body shaming at the age of 12.
Kat Dennings reveals ‘very cruel’ comments she received from casting directors
“The time that I was auditioning and starting to act, it was a very different environment than it is now,” Dennings told the outlet. “There was not a lot of inclusivity at all. It was very harsh. There was a lot of extremely negative feedback and people would not hold back,” she added.
Dennings, who began her Hollywood career at the age of nine, explained that the casting directors would say “very cruel” things to her even though they were “talking about a child.” “It was pretty crazy thinking about it. I’m like, ‘How can anyone say that about a little kid? This is insane,’” the Shifting Gears star went on.
“For example, I was 12. I’d go into an audition and I’d do it, and my manager would call me and I’d be like, ‘How’d it go?’ And they’d be like, ‘Well, they thought you weren’t pretty enough and you’re fat,’” Dennings recalled. However, their criticism could not shake her confidence as she had a “very strong” outlook on it.
“That was my attitude. For some reason, it didn’t break my spirit. I was like, ‘I’ll show them,’ ” Dennings went on, adding, “I guess props to my parents, because they were like, ‘They’re idiots. Don’t listen to them.’ And I was like, ‘They’re idiots, I’m not.’ ”
The Friendsgiving star further noted that the industry’s current environment is “much softer, kinder” as compared to its “completely insane” past. “There’s body positivity, there’s inclusivity, there’s representation, and there was none of that before. It was really gross,” she shared.
