Kristin Davis is reflecting on the intense body image pressures she faced while playing Charlotte York on Sex and the City.
Speaking on the August 11 episode of her podcast Are You a Charlotte?, the 60-year-old actress revealed how constant criticism over her appearance deeply affected her mental health during the hit HBO series.
She shared that she struggled with a “thinness issue” throughout filming, something even her close friend and co-star Sarah Jessica Parker pointed out.
“There were times when Sarah Jessica would be like, ‘You have body dysmorphia.’ And I’d be like, I don't think I do because the world is literally telling me daily that I am pear shaped,” Davis recalled.
“Like so much to the point where, like, you can't think straight.”
Her struggles went beyond self-perception, as she also battled disordered eating in an effort to meet industry beauty standards.
“You’re starving yourself,” she said, adding that she once fainted in a parking lot due to a “crazy diet.”
The actress explained that unsolicited remarks from strangers often added to her insecurities.
“There was a good number of years when… people would see me on the street and they would say, ‘Oh, but you're not fat.’ And I know they didn't mean anything bad. They mean it as a compliment, right? But it's because I'm standing next to Sarah Jessica. Or, ‘You're prettier in person.’ And I'm just like, well, okay.”
Davis said these kinds of comments, while not always intended to be hurtful, were a reminder of the constant comparisons and scrutiny women in Hollywood face.
“There's like a weird cynicism about our industry and about us that then permeates the thinking,” she added.
This isn’t the first time Davis has spoken out about the toll of body shaming. In a February 2025 PEOPLE cover story, she described how unrealistic beauty ideals shaped her early career choices, leading her to adopt unhealthy diets.
“Every single person was gorgeous and super skinny,” she said at the time. “So I was like, ‘This is what I have to do.’”
Her candid reflection continues to shine a light on the damaging expectations placed on women in entertainment, and the long-lasting impact they can have.
