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Samira Wileyis spreadingbody gratitudeas she opens up about her own journey to self-acceptance.
The Emmy Award winner, 34, recalls an incident that “really affected” her in which she wasbody shamedduring a photo shoot as she tells PEOPLE about her new partnership withOne A Day’s Gratitude Project, which encourages people to show appreciation for their entire bodies and selves.
“I remember this one so vividly because feel like I have a healthybody image, and I was on the shoot and one of the outfits they put me in, was something that showed a bit of midriff,” she recounts. “And honestly, I thought it was fine. But someone on the set was like, ‘Oh, don’t worry. We can fix that in post.'”
She explains that she was in a good place with her body image and the encounter didn’t “really put me in a horrible mood,” adding: “But this is what I have to deal with?”
“I can’t imagine what all of these young girls who are just looking at these magazines, and their perception is that this is reality and it’s not,” Wiley says.
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Wiley is teaming up with One A Day to co-produce the upcoming documentary shortThe Gratitude Project, featuring stories from real people who have used body gratitude to better themselves, inside and out. The film is slated to premiere in June 2022 at Tribeca Film Festival.
TheHandmaid’s Taleactress began her own journey with body gratitude after coming to terms with herdiabetes, more than 10 years after she was diagnosed at age 12. She weighed less than 100 lbs. when she sought help.
“I was in denial and I didn’t really take care of myself,” Wiley says. “And then I just got the idea that I now only got one [body]. and I feel like it’s done so much for me, and I want to be able to take care of it as well.”
She adds: “I finally took the leap of faith to go see a doctor. And that really changed my life. I was able to really come to terms with the damage that I was doing to my body … I decided to make a change then. Sometimes I go back to the doctor and I’ll see the picture that they took the first day that I walked in there, versus how I look now. It just looks like a completely different person.”
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“I was really angry, but I think getting over that anger has helped me to be a healthier person,” Wiley says.
“When I think about the documentary that we are going to make, that One A Day is spearheading,” Wiley says. “I think about her being able to see something like that one day and her knowing that I was involved in it, and her knowing that it’s something that is important to me. It’s also a different narrative than the one that may be abound when she’s conscious to that kind of thing.”
source: people.com
