Helen Hunt may be Hollywood royalty, but she’s no beauty queen.
The Oscar-winning actress, 61, opened up about the inner turmoil she’s experienced in the entertainment industry due to Hollywood’s intense beauty standards in a June cover story for Flow Space.
Hunt, best known for her roles in the sitcom “Mad About You” and acclaimed dramas “As Good as It Gets” and “Twister,” rose to fame in the 1990s when celebrity tabloids routinely scrutinized stars’ physical appearance.
“It felt impossible not to internalize the way you’re supposed to look,” Hunt reflected. “And (there was) a certain amount of misery and shame around not looking exactly that way.”
While Hunt rarely discusses the image pressures of being in Hollywood, she said she eventually reached a turning point. “I realized, ‘This could quietly ruin your whole life.’ I made a decision: I’m not playing. Not going to (let it) take up a lot of space in my mind,” she said.
Hunt added that the self-help book “The Only Diet There Is” by Sondra Ray was helpful in shifting her perspective on food and body image. “What I took from it is eat what you want and love every bite, period,” she said.
The Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actress isn’t the only female veteran to get candid on rejecting beauty standards. “Baywatch” alum Pamela Anderson and actress Justine Bateman have spoken out about embracing aging and stepping out in makeup-free looks.
In a 2023 interview with “60 Minutes Australia,” Bateman, who’d become the subject of online commentary over her “old” looks, defended her aged appearance and said cosmetic procedures “would erase” the authority she’s gained over the years.
“I like feeling that I am a different person now than I was when I was 20,” Bateman said at the time. “I like looking in the mirror and seeing that evidence. … I think my face represents who I am. I like it.”
Helen Hunt Opens Up About Feeling ‘Misery and Shame’ Because of Hollywood Beauty Standards
Hunt credits one book for helping her heal her relationship with food
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Helen Hunt is divorcing herself from the pressures of Hollywood.
The Hacks actress, 61, talked about the pressures that comes with being a part of the entertainment industry, and revealed in an interview with Flow Space that not having her mental wellbeing affected by the demands of her job has taken work.
“It felt impossible not to internalize the way you’re supposed to look,” Hunt told the outlet, “And [there was] a certain amount of misery and shame around not looking exactly that way.”
Though Hunt noted that she rarely ever likes talking about that aspect of her Hollywood experience, she put her foot down in order to prevent the pressure from getting to her.
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“I realized, ‘This could quietly ruin your whole life,’” she continued. “I made a decision: I’m not playing. Not gonna [let it] take up a lot of space in my mind.”
Hunt’s longtime friend and Mad About You costar, Paul Reiser, supported her statement, saying, “She has always been terrifically centered and forthright about setting up boundaries.”
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As part of her health journey, Hunt revealed that she sought guidance through the book, The Only Diet There Is, by spiritual leader Sondra Ray.
“What I took from it,” she added, “is eat what you want and love every bite, period.” Hunt credited the book with helping her heal her relationship with food.
The Twister actress also revealed in the feature that she isn’t falling for uncomfortable heels being a red carpet requirement. The actress reflected on her experience at the 2024 Vanity Fair Oscars afterparty and revealed that her open-toed heels placed her in a lot of pain.
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“I was like, ‘This has to be done. I have to be done now — I can’t walk!’ ” she recalled. “I cannot walk. I cannot walk to get my drink at the bar or my In-N-Out Burger, which they serve. There has to be a new ethos about women and shoes. I want them to invent a new way to do it without hurting your feet!”
Helen Hunt To Receive Taormina Film Festival Lifetime Achievement Award
EXCLUSIVE: Oscar and Golden Globe-winning actress Helen Hunt will be honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award at Italy’s Taormina Film Festival in June.
The celebrated American actress has won one Academy Award, four Golden Globes, and four Emmy Awards across her career. She clinched a Best Actress Academy Award and Golden Globe in 1998 for her performance in romantic comedy As Good As It Gets, opposite Jack Nicholson and Greg Kinnear.
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Other career highlights include her role in the long-running New York couple comedy show Mad About You, for which Hunt won three Golden Globes.
Hunt has also gotten behind the camera with directorial feature credits including Then She Found Me (2007), in which she co-starred opposite Colin Firth, and mother and son surfing world comedy-drama Ride (2014).
“It is an honor for us to welcome Helen Hunt to Taormina. Her presence represents a bridge between great international cinema and the eternal beauty of our land. With her elegance, multifaceted talent and artistic consistency, Helen embodies the values that our Festival wants to celebrate: passion, commitment and love of cinematic storytelling,” said Tiziana Rocca, Artistic Director of Taormina Film Festival.
“The Lifetime Achievement Award is a heartfelt and well-deserved tribute to an artist capable of inspiring generations of viewers and colleagues.”
The award ceremony will take place during a gala evening in Taormina’s Teatro Antica. Hunt joins a a raft of previously announced honorees for this year’s edition include Martin Scorsese, Michael Douglas and Catherine Deneuve.
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Taormina Film Festival is an initiative organized by Fondazione Taormina Arte Sicilia, directly promoted by the Sicily Region’s Department of Tourism, Sport and Entertainment, with the support of the MiC, Ministry of Culture – General Directorate for Cinema and Audiovisual.
The 71st edition of the Taormina Film Festival runs from June 10 to 14.
Helen Hunt Stuns In Bikini At 62, Rejecting Hollywood’s Standards
Helen Hunt was recently seen at the beach in Italy, wearing a yellow bikini top and green floral bottoms. The retro-style swimsuit suited her well as she stepped into the sea with a calm, confident look. At 62, she didn’t seem focused on looking youthful and ageless — she just looked like herself.
The pictures were taken shortly after she received a lifetime achievement award at the Taormina Film Festival. While others praised her career, many fans couldn’t stop talking about how comfortable and natural she looked in her own skin. For an actress who once felt pressure to meet impossible beauty standards, this moment was special to her.
Helen Hunt stuns in bikini at 62 years old
Helen Hunt has been open about the toll Hollywood’s beauty standards took on her. Early in her career, she often felt inadequate and said she experienced “misery and shame” because she didn’t match the narrow ideal of beauty. “It felt impossible not to internalize the way you’re supposed to look,” she shared in an interview.
But over time, Hunt made a shift. She stopped letting those standards control her mindset or her choices. “I realized, ‘This could quietly ruin your whole life.’ I made a decision: I’m not playing,” she said. She also mentioned how the book, The Only Diet There Is, by Sondra Ray helped her see things differently. Instead of chasing diets or looks, the book encouraged her to eat what she wanted and enjoy it without guilt. That mindset helped her move away from the obsession with the image that often surrounds women in the spotlight.
Helen Hunt, Justine Bateman, and Pamela Anderson have embraced aging
Apart from Helen, other actresses, such as Justine Bateman and Pamela Anderson, have also pushed back against the pressure to “fix” their looks as they age. Bateman, known for her role in Family Ties, said she actually likes seeing age on her face — it shows the life she’s lived. Anderson, once the face of Baywatch, made headlines when she walked red carpets makeup-free.
In an industry where many still feel forced to look young to stay relevant, Hunt is setting a new kind of example. Fortunately, her career speaks for itself, as she has worked on huge projects like Mad About You, Twister, As Good As It Gets, and most recently, Hacks.
