In the decades following Shallow Hal‘s release, the film has received much criticism, with Paltrow herself describing how uncomfortable filming the movie was for her. In particular, she recalled walking in the Tribeca Grand hotel in New York City on the first day that she tried the fat suit on.
“I walked through the lobby,” the Marvel alum told W Magazine in 2001. “It was so sad, it was so disturbing. No one would make eye contact with me because I was obese. I felt humiliated because people were really dismissive.”
Viewers have also taken to social media to criticize the movie over the years, with one user posting to X, formerly known as Twitter, “The issue is that shallow Hal was super fatphobic. A lot of my fat clients talk about shallow hal as being one of those movies that taught them to hate their bodies. It makes me really sad.” Another said, “Shallow Hal just might be the most offensive movie I’ve ever seen on so many levels.”
But these days, Snitzer said she is in a good place.
In addition to not worrying about eating, she told The Guardian she’s “found a lot of stability in between the two extremes” of her past.
And she’s learned to leave body worries behind her, adding, “I was always my personality. I’ve always been a personality in this body.”
E! News has reached out to reps for Paltrow, 20th Century Fox and the Farrelly Brothers, the film’s directors, but has not received a comment.
