Sopranos star speaks about eating disorders

An audience of mostly female Tufts students filled Cohen Auditorium on Tuesday night when The Sopranos cast member Jamie-Lynn Sigler told the story of her experience with exercise bulimia.

As the spokesperson for the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA), Sigler's program was highly anticipated and took place during the National Eating Disorders Awareness week, Feb. 23-Mar. 2.

Michelle Bowdler, director of health services, said as she introduced Sigler, "it is extremely rare that someone who has gone through a battle with an eating disorder is willing to talk about it."

As an exercise bulimic, Sigler exercised more than her calorie intake could compensate for.

"I think it's great that someone in the media spotlight can come out with something so private in front of so many people," said Julia Tebor, a freshman.

Sigler quickly gained the support of the crowd through her casual dialogue, and through the candid way in which she spoke and answered questions.

Of her 15 years prior to the development of her eating disorder, Sigler said "I had never looked at the nutritional value of anything."

After her friends had jokingly suggested that they all lose a few pounds, Sigler's response snowballed into an obsession with exercising for four hours before school each day, in addition to eating next to nothing.

Hating the way she looked, seeing her grades drop, her friendships lost, and the pain she caused her family, Sigler still continued in the obsession that was the one thing she felt she could control in her life.

"With any addiction, if you don't want to get better," Sigler stated, "you're never going to."

"You're in such denial; you know something is not right," she continued, "you hurt the people who are closest to you and that's what makes it even harder." Sigler finally came to terms with her disorder during her junior year in high school. She was then taken to specialists by her parents, whom she called supportive.

Sigler said that working on the set of the hit HBO series The Sopranos has in a sense, saved her life. When she returned to the set to film the second season, coworkers recognized her problem immediately. Sigler was told that her character would be recast if she didn't gain 15 pounds within three weeks.

"I ate everything in sight," Sigler said. Even after she gained the weight back, she was determined to prove that her condition was improving she said that she "ate even when I wasn't hungry."

When viewers who watched the second season sent Sigler mail that critiqued the way her character, Meadow, looked on the show, Sigler was faced with another difficult challenge. "Does this mean that to do what I wanted to do, I had to be unhappy and unhealthy, to go back to my old ways?"

But Sigler chose to abandon her old ways, and instead admitted that she had a disorder.

Eating disorders currently affect millions of American women, according to the NEDA. One in five girls will suffer from a full-blown eating disorder in her life, and nearly half of American woman are dieting on any given day. Four out of five ten year olds reportedly are also afraid of being fat.

Overcoming the disorder Sigler said, was "the most uplifting, empowering experience of my life beyond any role I could ever get."

"It's like a scar that will always be with me," Sigler said. "Even though I had a great family life, and I was a strong and confident girl, it still happened to me."

Today, at 21 years old, Sigler has won numerous acting awards, debuted as Belle in Disney's Beauty and the Beast, written her own autobiography entitled Wise Girl, featured in her first film, and has become a recording artist as well.

"It's very helpful to see a celebrity speak out about real problems," sophomore Lauren Thomas said, "because it shows that Hollywood is just an illusion, there are real people with real experiences."

"As a woman in college, I think that almost every girl my age can relate to Jamie-Lynn in a way that we all face pressure to achieve perfection," freshman Sarah Samuelson said.

Sigler also expressed that she is, "grateful, beyond success, that I can reach people."