It’s no secret that Hollywood hasn’t always been the most body positive place. In fact, even now, actors and other celebrities are often encouraged to stay as slender as possible. Actor Sarah Jessica Parker has always been in fantastic shape, but even she has been subject to scrutiny. In fact, a producer once sent her a treadmill and encouraged her to “get fit.” Yikes.
The ‘concerned’ producer who sent Sarah Jessica Parker a treadmill
Parker, 57, has been praised for looking phenomenal in a bikini well into her 50s. But during an interview on Sirius XM Radio Andy’s ‘My Favorite Song w/ John Benjamin Hickey,” she revealed something pretty startling and concerning: a movie producer once had the audacity to ship her a treadmill to ensure she’d be fit enough for an upcoming role.
The interview started out innocently, when she was asked what her favorite song was. Parker chose the 1990 hit by C+C Music Factory, “Everybody Dance Now.”
“Just picture me running with a Discman,” the And Just Like That star said. “You’re in fantastic shape,” Hickey remarked. “Is this the reason why?”
“No, but it was a very important time in my life,” she said, adding, “I was about to do Honeymoon In Vegas and before that I was off to do another movie in Iowa and the producer of Honeymoon in Vegas was very concerned about me being fit for Honeymoon in Vegas. So, they sent a treadmill to Iowa.” Parker would have been in her late twenties at the time.
“Are you kidding me?” Hickey asked, clearly shocked. “Dead serious,” Parker replied.
Hickey commented that you could sue someone for that these days, but Parker declined to name names. Honeymoon in Vegas was produced by Mike Lobell.
Parker revealed her intense workout routine at the time, which included constantly running (both on and off the treadmill) to her favorite song.
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‘Honeymoon in Vegas’ was a hit
Honeymoon in Vegas was released in 1992, starring Nicolas Cage and James Caan alongside Parker. Parker plays the role of Betsy, who is engaged to Jack (Cage). When Tommy (Caan) spots the couple and notices that Betsy bears a striking resemblance to his late wife, he schemes and forms a plan to spend some quality time with her.
Hilarity ensues — and in one scene, Parker famously rocks a tiny black bikini. Parker is a professional, so we can assume she would have stayed in shape on her own, without the producer’s “concerns.” Fortunately, she didn’t seem to let it affect her self-confidence.
Parker’s healthy attitude about fitness
Parker clearly didn’t let the producer’s actions get her down. In a 2006 interview with Good Housekeeping, when she was asked what “naughty” foods she avoids, she said:
“I love to eat. I think about food all the time,” adding that she and her husband, Matthew Broderick, would often lie in bed at night and talk about the food they would eat the next day. When the interviewer commented on her “enviable figure,” Parker stated:
“I want to say something about that, which is that no real woman should look to any woman in this industry as an example. It’s simply not applicable because of the enormous number of advantages we have. Women in this country should be reminded to be healthy rather than to be a size zero. I’m not going to kid you: Money changes everything.”
Sounds like advice that, even nearly two decades later, makes a lot of sense.
