The 'Will & Grace' star shares the story of how uncomfortable she felt on one of her first jobs.
Debra Messing has had her fair share of uncomfortable moments while on set.
In an intimate interview with Sharon Stone for Variety's Actors on Actors series, the Will & Grace star recalled how she was told by Hollywood executives to drastically change her appearance during one of her first jobs.
“I had to wear fake boobs when I first started in Hollywood on my first sitcom,” the 49-year-old actress shared. "They gave me cutlets and I had just graduated with my masters from NYU from acting and I was like, 'I'm an actress!' and they're like, 'here.'"
“‘I look stupid.’ I was like, ‘I’m not going to wear these,’ and then they go, ‘The president of the network called and said he wants you to wear those,'" a bewildered Messing recalled. “I was in shock. I was new to the industry and I just thought I can’t say no, you know…Now, no one comes at me with those things. I’m like, ‘I’m flat-chested, I love it.'”
Stone, on her end, also discussed a time when she received backlash over wearing pants instead of a dress in a film and when she was told to sit like a lady.
Both actresses have been vocal about their hardships in Hollywood. Messing has also been an active supporter of the Time's Up initiative, speaking out against discrimination, wearing black to the Golden Globes and more.
"The last three months or so have been so harrowing, with all of the brave whistleblowers telling their stories, and we’ve all wanted to say, ‘How can we make a difference?’ And now we have this incredible Time’s Up initiative, this movement that is rolling out,” Messing told ET at the Golden Globes. “Change is here. That’s it. We are done with discrimination. We want diversity and intersectional gender parity and equal pay. This is the second wave.”
Hear more of how she's supported the movement in the video below.
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