{"id":927,"date":"2017-07-17T22:27:38","date_gmt":"2017-07-17T22:27:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ramolawpc.com\/?p=927"},"modified":"2017-08-21T22:29:11","modified_gmt":"2017-08-21T22:29:11","slug":"pretty-little-liars-star-troian-bellisario-on-how-writing-producing-feed-helped-her-overcome-an-eating-disorder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ramolawpc.com\/new\/pretty-little-liars-star-troian-bellisario-on-how-writing-producing-feed-helped-her-overcome-an-eating-disorder\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Pretty Little Liars\u2019 Star Troian Bellisario on How Writing, Producing \u2018Feed\u2019 Helped Her Overcome an Eating Disorder"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"VarietyLogo1\"<\/a>Troian Bellisario is best known for starring on \u201cPretty Little Liars\u201d for seven years, but little do her legions of fans know, she was hard at work on another project before \u201cPLL\u201d even began.<\/p>\n

\u201cFeed\u201d \u2014 a film written, produced, and starring Bellisario \u2014 is inspired by the multi-hyphenate\u2019s own experiences with an eating disorder. The movie, in which she stars opposite \u201cHarry Potter\u201d alum Tom Felton, debuts July 18 on VOD and all digital platforms.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt had been living in my head for about eight years and had gone through so many different iterations,\u201d Bellisario, 31, tells Variety of the writing process for \u201cFeed\u201d that began when she was 23 years old, roughly four years after her hospitalization for anorexia.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had enough distance to begin to write about this experience, and not write about it like a diary entry, but to create a world and characters that are different than my own experience, and speak about what I thought it was like to engage with this illness and try to get out from under it,\u201d says Bellisario, explaining that \u201cFeed,\u201d is not biographical, but rather inspired by her own illness.<\/p>\n

And so, working on \u201cFeed\u201d became a source of healing for Bellisario.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was one doctor who told me that when a lot of people go in for treatment, they won\u2019t feel like they\u2019ve come out from under their eating disorder until about 10 years of therapy. I didn\u2019t understand that,\u201d Bellisario admits. \u201cI was so new to my therapist and everything that we were doing and I was like, \u2018No, I should just be able to stop.\u2019 I didn\u2019t see that a lot of my thought patterns wouldn\u2019t be normalized or made healthy again until after that 10 years, so what I thought I could do in that meantime was write about my experience and channel this story. And what if it can inspire other people to close the chapter in their life? I didn\u2019t want to be struggling with this mental illness in my 30s. I didn\u2019t want to be struggling with this mental illness in my 40s. I didn\u2019t want to, god forbid, have a child and still be thinking in these patterns and talk to my daughter about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

She adds, \u201cOver the eight years of slipping back into some unhealthy places and then getting back to it and speaking to therapists, it was amazing to have \u2018Feed\u2019 to go back to and think, \u2018This is what it felt like when it was happening, but now I\u2019m five years out, now I\u2019m six years out, now I\u2019m eight years out, and now, how do I feel about this, as an artist talking about this as a story \u2014 and not as my own story?\u2019 I felt like I really needed that distance to be able to see it clearly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bellisario admits that the process of creating the film was both \u201ctherapeutic,\u201d but at the same time, also \u201cinflammatory,\u201d partly because she decided to star in the project. Those around her tried to convince her not to act in \u201cFeed\u201d because they feared it would be too traumatic.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo many people in my life read the script and said, \u2018Wow, I totally understand why you wrote this,\u2019 but then when I said I am also going to act in it, so many people were like, \u2018Why?\u2019 because engaging in this disorder and engaging with this role and taking on this experience again would involve weight loss, it would involve some of the conversations that I had with a therapist and re-hashing those feelings. So everybody around me was like, \u2018Are you sure you want to do this?’\u201d<\/p>\n

To ensure that she remained healthy through the hands-on process, Bellisario says not only did she have a great support group around her, but she also stayed in close contact with her therapist, who treated her when she was battling anorexia.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wasn\u2019t prepared for coming off of that set and going into her and how much of it was going to be aggravated. And it was amazing because she was right there to catch me,\u201d Bellisario explains of working with her therapist. \u201cIt was incredibly challenging, but it was also wonderful because I was in a healthy enough mind space.\u201d<\/p>\n

While \u201cFeed\u201d proved to be an instrumental tool in Bellisario overcoming her illness, the film also helped the actress evolve into, well, much more than an actress. The project marks Bellisario\u2019s film debut as a writer and producer, piquing her interest in a wide variety of career possibilities, following \u201cPretty Little Liars.\u201d<\/p>\n

Starring as Spencer Hastings for seven seasons of \u201cLiars\u201d catapulted Bellisario to stardom, as the series become a pop culture phenomenon, and introduced her to millions of loyal followers. The show also provided her the opportunity to make her directorial debut on the final season of the Freeform hit \u2014 which, spoiler alert!, revealed her to be the ultimate \u201cA\u201d villain after seven years of whodunnit fake-outs.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was mostly a total blast because for seven years, so many members of the crew were suggesting I try my hand at that,\u201d Bellisario recalls of directing her first episode, laughing that she was always asking a lot of questions on set and had \u201ca lot\u201d of opinions throughout the show\u2019s run. To prepare for her directorial debut, Bellisario enrolled in the Warner Bros. director\u2019s program, which consisted of seven weeks of intensive all-day Saturday prep work, which she was able to do on the \u201cPLL\u201d set. She jokes, \u201cI was already living on the Warner Bros. lot Monday through Friday, so why not make it six days per week?\u201d<\/p>\n

Though she wore many different hats on \u201cFeed\u201d between acting, writing, and producing, Bellisario\u2019s close friend Tommy Bertelsen directed the film. \u201cIt was truly a collaborative team effort between the two of us,\u201d she said. \u201cHe was really wonderful in that he helped me define my role in that three-pronged approach.\u201d<\/p>\n

While she chose not to direct \u201cFeed,\u201d Bellisario has caught the directing bug and is excited about Hollywood championing more and more female directors today \u2014 something that appears to have been cemented this summer by the success of \u201cWonder Woman,\u201d directed by Patty Jenkins.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was at the premiere,\u201d Bellisario recalls, with a smile, \u201cAnd I could cry about it right now because I saw all of these young girls dressed up as Wonder Woman and they were so excited, and I remember when I was younger and \u2018Kill Bill\u2019 came out and I went to the theater with a plastic samurai sword because I was so excited there was a female action movie. This is on a totally different level because it\u2019s directed by a woman and it\u2019s about a female superhero.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bellisario is optimistic about the industry finally recognizing women as storytellers, even though there\u2019s much more work to be done in the industry\u2019s fight toward gender equality.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen a guy directs a romantic comedy, we\u2019re not like, \u2018Wow! How amazing! He really got out of the box with that rom-com!\u2019 But when we\u2019re talking about a woman who\u2019s directing an action movie, it\u2019s like, \u2018Wow! Isn\u2019t it so amazing?\u2019 And no, she\u2019s a director \u2014 she\u2019s just a director. We need to stop seeing women as exceptions to the rule.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bellisario grew up in an industry household \u2014 her father is \u201cNCIS\u201d and \u201cMagnum, P.I.\u201d creator Donald P. Bellisario, and her mother is writer-producer Deborah Pratt \u2014 so she was always encouraged to pursue her entertainment career, despite barriers for women. \u201cIn my family, it never felt like we were on the outside,\u201d she says. \u201cIt never felt like my dad was the only director in the family. My mom was a director. But that\u2019s in my bubble.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I\u2019m so excited about and optimistic about is that it feels like the work is being done,\u201d she continues. \u201cIt feels like people are excited to get a woman behind the camera. I think that we should continue the good fight, but I do think that there\u2019s been a lot of incredible progress being made, and I\u2019m just excited to be in Hollywood in a time where that\u2019s happening.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for what\u2019s next?<\/p>\n

\u201cSo many people say, \u2018What\u2019s next?’\u201d Bellisario says. \u201cBeing on a show for seven years and getting to play Spencer and go down in that rabbit hole was so wonderful, but it was also so all-consuming. I think right now, I feel that what I\u2019m most excited to do is be a bit untethered and have my choice of options.\u201d<\/p>\n

As an actor, Bellisario recently signed onto Richard Linklater\u2019s \u201cWhere\u2019d You Go, Bernadette,\u201d opposite Cate Blanchett, Kristen Wiig, and Billy Crudup, and says she\u2019d like to explore film, in addition to getting back to her theater roots. (She graduated from USC\u2019s School of Dramatic Arts in 2009.) She says if she were to sign onto another television series, the project would likely be a shorter episode-run, as opposed to the 20-plus episodes-per-season, like \u201cLiars,\u201d which had her working five days a week for nine months of the year.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been so inspired by a lot of television series that are taking the time to write everything ahead of time and then do 10 episodes, which is really like doing a very intensive film,\u201d Bellisario explains. \u201cI\u2019m very, very excited to find that next world and that next set of characters that would make me want to do more television, but it\u2019s a decision that I wouldn\u2019t take lightly and it would have to be something that I was absolutely in love with.\u201d<\/p>\n

But right now, her focus is on the release of \u201cFeed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel incredibly grateful for the opportunities I\u2019ve been given,\u201d she says, \u201cAnd particularly with this film, I feel like I get to share a part of myself with the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

View this article at Variety<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Troian Bellisario is best known for starring on \u201cPretty Little Liars\u201d for seven years, but little do her legions of fans know, she was hard at work on another project before \u201cPLL\u201d even began. \u201cFeed\u201d \u2014 a film written, produced, and starring Bellisario \u2014 is inspired by the multi-hyphenate\u2019s own experiences with an eating disorder.
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