How Ashley Benson Overcame Being Called ''Too Fat'' for Certain Roles

Actress talks about the pressure of being thin in Hollywood

By Kendall Fisher Feb 09, 2016 4:37 PMTags
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We look at Pretty Little Liars star Ashley Benson in photos like the one above and one word always comes to mind: perfection.

Surprisingly, however, she's been told quite the opposite throughout her years in Hollywood.

Covering the March issue of Health magazine, Benson opens up about the pressure of being ultra-thin in the industry and how she's managed to overcome the weight battle.

"I get told all the time to lose weight," she explained in her interview. "I got that a month ago. It's just weird. With my stuff recently, it's been, 'You have to be skin and bones or you're not getting it.'"

She continued, "It's come up a few times in the last few years, like, 'You're too fat for this.' And I'm just sitting here like, 'Wait, what? Do you want a skeleton?' But I feel good. I don't want to lose 20 pounds, because I don't need to...There was a point where it was getting to where a size 2 was great. I'm a size 2, but I think that a size 4 is healthy. I think that all of these sizes are healthy."

One way she's learned to feel better about herself is through working out and meditation.

"I usually do Pilates three days a week for an hour, and I try to box or do SoulCycle two or three times a week," she revealed. "There are times I just want to do nothing! But then I don't feel good about myself."

She also seeks out inspiration from a few Hollywood women who help represent healthy body types and eating. In fact, she calls Gwyneth Paltrow is her "healthy-living idol."

"I have one of her cookbooks, and I think she looks beautiful," Benson explained. "When I look at all the pictures in her cookbook, I'm like, 'Wow, I already feel better,' you know?"

As for body inspiration, the blonde beauty says she'd totally trade with Jenna Dewan-Tatum.

"She is, like, the cutest thing," Benson gushed. "Her body right now is so incredible—and she's had a kid! I would obviously say, like, every supermodel, like Candice Swanepoel and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley—but that is just so not my body."

For more from Benson's cover shoot, head over to Health.com.

Watch: "Pretty Little Liars" Have All-New Looks