The person who acted as Gwyneth Paltrow’s body double in the movie “Shallow Hal” in 2001 has talked in a very rare interview. They talked about how it felt to pretend to be the famous actress and the effect it had on him.
Ivy Snitzer, the person who stood in for Gwyneth Paltrow in scenes where Paltrow would have been wearing heavy fake body parts, was chosen to appear in shots focusing on the body, thighs, and arms of the character Rosemary.
In a recent talk with The Guardian, Ivy Snitzer looked back on how she did not realize that a lot of people would see her body in the film. This had a bigger impact on her mental and physical well-being than she expected. She remarked that the idea that the movie would reach millions of viewers did not cross her mind.
It felt like the negative aspects of being overweight were made much bigger. No one complimented her humor. Being overweight is not the most terrible thing for her. Ivy Snitzer becomes frightened.
How did Ivy Snitzer land her role in Shallow Hal?
When Ivy Snitzer was 20 years old, she was a student studying acting in Los Angeles. She dreamed of becoming an actor or a comedian, and her main goal was to make people laugh.
One day, a friend of her improv class contacted her because he had heard about an opportunity. She does not remember the exact words of the casting call for “Shallow Hal.”
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Without needing more information, she went with her friend to a place where the people in charge of casting took several pictures of her. A day later, she was asked to come back for a talk session. This time, she got the chance to sit down and have a conversation with the movie’s directors, the Farrelly brothers.
The meeting with the directors was set up because they simply wanted assurance that Ivy was a person who would be easy to work alongside. Snitzer explains that in less than an hour, she was offered the job. The movie’s concept did not bother her. In the film, Hal (played by Jack Black), who is known as a womanizer, undergoes hypnosis to see only their inner beauty. The humorous twist is that he falls in love with a woman who is overweight.
She found this idea forward-thinking back then. She notes that during that time, if an obese person appeared in a movie, they usually played the role of a villain. In contrast, Rosemary, the character Snitzer portrayed, was portrayed as cool, popular, and having friends.
Ivy Snitzer shares her experience working on the sets
Ivy Snitzer, who has undergone significant weight loss since then, holds only positive memories of the filming process. The experience was incredibly thrilling for her. Being a part of a movie was just pure enjoyment- very few people actually get that chance.
During the shoot, both the cast and the crew treated her with great importance, making her feel indispensable to the movie. She felt at ease when her body was being filmed.
Jack Black was a wonderfully pleasant person, and Gwyneth Paltrow was kind, Ivy Snitzer shares. She did not feel offended by the movie’s jokes about her size because she herself used to make similar jokes.
However, according to her, the thought that the movie would reach a large audience never crossed her mind. When Shallow Hal was launched in 2001, she felt that the negative aspects of being overweight were emphasized. Moreover, she did not receive any compliments about her humor during the time.
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