UNDER A REHEARSAL piano in a studio on the MGM lot in Hollywood in 1952, Debbie Reynolds crumbled. She was in the middle of preparing for Singing in the Rain, which would be her first leading role for the studio, alongside Gene Kelly, and the first time she'd have to dance, really. She was 19 years old, had three teachers, and was spinning around eight hours a day. It hurt everywhere, she wrote in her autobiography 60 years later, "most of all my brain and my feet." She lay there, under that piano, until Fred Astaire materialized to coax her back up. She wasn't going to die, he told her. If you're not sweating, you're not doing it right. So she shot "Good Morning" from eight in the morning till eleven o'clock that night. When it was over, she collapsed. For days, she didn't get out of bed at her doctor's behest.
The studio had its own MD, who wanted to administer what they called a "vitamin shot"-amphetamines. Possibly, the same ones, Reynolds wrote, that "ruined Judy Garland." Since its inception, Hollywood has been the land where unrealistic beauty standards collide with financial pressure that hinges on its stars keeping thin, energetic, and always ready to make more hits. And there's always been a quick fix or two. Since Reynolds's era, the nature of the fixes have evolved from "vitamin shots" and "pep pills" to phen-fen to Adderall to clenbuterol-a medication used to treat breathing problems in horses. That's to say nothing of the extra-medicinal aesthetic boosts by way of CoolSculpting, injectables, and Brazilian butt lifts, which suck pockets of fat from one part of a body and insert them into another, in order to create a generation of Instagram-age Jessica Rabbits.
It should have been no mystery, then, that when the people of Hollywood started dropping dozens of pounds in a matter of weeks, it wasn't that everyone had suddenly started practicing moderation and logging 10,000 steps.
This story is from the December 2022 - January 2023 edition of Vanity Fair US.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the December 2022 - January 2023 edition of Vanity Fair US.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Devil's Eve, 1982
Before she was killed by her ex-boyfriend, Dominique Dunne had been poised for Hollywood stardom. The crime launched her father, Dominick, into his calling, covering high-profile court cases for this magazine. The tragedy also reshaped their family, as Griffin Dunne writes in his memoir, The Friday Afternoon Club
Alfred Molina
The actor, currently starring in Uncle Vanya on Broadway, on his love of vinyl, New York, and not being the worst dad in the world
CITIZEN CHAMBERS
Until very recently, Jim \"Fergie\" Chambers was an heir to Cox Enterprises and one of the largest family fortunes in America. With hundreds of millions of dollars on hand, a zeal for revolution, and an innate sense for confrontation, he's becoming America's go-to radical communist
MEMBERS ONLY
Scott Sartiano's private club, Zero Bond, became postpandemic New York's celeb-friendliest playground, luring the likes of Taylor, Elon, and Mayor Eric Adams. What's the secret sauce?
IN VITRO VERITAS
More than half a century ago, in a dusty Roman library, men of science and men of faith gathered together to unlock the mysteries of female fertility. The answer: urine from the brides of Christ. And lo, those nuns gaveth
OF GODS AND MEN
Despite playing Thor for years, Chris Hemsworth is every inch a human being: an introspective family man with real questions about his career and future. We meet up in Australia on the eve of his favorite role in more than a decade in Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
RUNNING for His Life
His freedom in the balance, Donald Trump's campaign has been big on autocracy and low on the drama that marked previous runs. What might this newfound if terrifying competency mean?
Turner Classic
In the last few years, English actor Callum Turner has worked with Clooney, Hanks, and Spielberg-so yes, you could say it's going well. VF catches up with Hollywood's latest heartthrob as he takes downtown NYC in style
Out of Sight
Inside Apple Park, CEO Tim Cook talks exclusively to vf about the genesis of a "Mind-blowing" new device that will shape his legacy and, perhaps, how we see the world
Queen Anne
Anne Hathaway has become a style icon to gen Z-and embraced who she is after years of self-recrimination and internet noise. With the racy romance the idea of you hitting theaters, the Oscar winner talks about living out loud