Entertainment

I was given whiter face and little English nose in photos, says Jameela Jamil

The actress says earlier in her career she did not know she could say no to airbrushing and looking back at the images makes her feel ‘gross’.
The actress says earlier in her career she did not know she could say no to airbrushing and looking back at the images makes her feel ‘gross’.

Jameela Jamil has said looking back at airbrushed photos of herself makes her feel “gross”.

The Good Place actress, 32, apologised to fans who would have seen the images and felt under pressure to be as thin as Jamil appeared.

She told Red magazine: “When I first started out in this industry, I didn’t know I was allowed to say no to airbrushing.

“I was given a whiter face, a little English nose and perfect skinny thighs. It makes me feel gross.

Jameela Jamil
Jameela Jamil in Red magazine (Coliena Rentmeester/Red/PA)

“I’m sorry to anyone who ever saw pictures of me like that and wanted to be thin like me.”

The actress and DJ, who has launched an i Weigh campaign on social media to encourage “body positivity”, told the February issue: “I still suffer from body dysmorphia, I can’t get rid of it.

“Something’s wrong with my brain and I will rally against it forever.

“I don’t weigh myself anymore and I sort of judge my size on how my clothes fit because I know that I’ll never be able to see myself properly.”

Jamil appears on the cover of the magazine (Coliena Rentmeester/Red/PA)

The British star previously revealed she was date-raped in her 20s.

She told the magazine: “I didn’t know anything about consent or how to protect myself as a young woman, then I found myself, age 22, being sexually assaulted.

“It was the end of a date and I was raped by someone that I had met very briefly before then. I didn’t know who to turn to or how to feel about it.

“I just felt like it was my fault somehow. So I want to arm young people with information – what I’ve learnt – that no-one ever told me.”

The full interview appears in the February issue of Red, on sale now.