Last May I wrote an article about how actresses seem to be making a point of talking about food and their positive relationship to it in their interviews these days, as if to sell us on the notion that they actually DO eat. Click here for a refresher. Jessica Biel is the latest to go there, to discuss food like it’s something she has in common with you. Here’s how she put it to Graham Norton on his show last week:

“You spend months and months training and doing crazy diets. It’s the hardest experience. You look great but you are miserable. I literally dream of food. Cake, pasta, bread and croissants are in my head the whole time, that’s all I can think about. It's the hardest experience, it really is 'cause you're eating a lot of boring stuff - chicken breasts and vegetables all the time. But it's cakes and pastas and breads and sandwiches and croissants (you crave) all the time, that's all you can think about. (Then) you don't crack just slightly, you crack bad. I was with my girlfriends, we were out in New York City for a night, it was the cheat day. I saw Dunkin' Donuts. I said, 'Pull the car over, pull over right now!' We ran in, I got 24 donuts. We went to a pizza joint and we got two large pizzas. I sat in the car and I put as much bread and dough in my mouth as I could possibly manage. It was the best moment."
 
Half of me wants to appreciate her for the honesty. But if it’s only half honest, does she deserve the appreciation? The way she’s making it sound here, the food restrictions are only temporary. It’s just when I’m working on a movie. It’s just when I’m training for a part.

Only?

Or always?

They look this way because it’s a Way of Life. And that’s the reality so many of them, Biel included, are hesitant to disclose. Because then the illusion goes away. Then you’d be more reluctant to swallow the word “natural” when it flies out of their mouths held up on soggy paper wings by a publicist and a plastic surgeon.

Eating sparingly is the day to day schedule. It’s not an extraordinary occurrence that happens out of necessity for a job. It IS the job.

And if you don’t believe me, perhaps you’ll believe Julianne Moore, one of the only actors who’s ever been honest about the pressure, the expectations, and, most candidly, about how those expectations are actually met:

“I still battle with my deeply boring diet of, essentially, yogurt and breakfast cereal and granola bars. I hate dieting. I hate having to do it to be the “right” size. I’m hungry all the time. I think I’m a slender person, but the industry apparently doesn’t. All actresses are hungry all the time.” (Source)

Here’s Biel on Wetten Dass. I managed to find a few shots without anyone giving her a rag doll or a side-eye.