MADEFEATURE
MADEXXX
know what? I'm controlling it. This is my
work. This is my dream." I put on forty
pounds. My body changed, and people
reacted to me differently than when you're
young and skinny. But you know what?
When you have a little more weight on,
yet you are still attractive, your skin is clear
and your hair is well groomed, you're still
going to get some doors opened for you.
Allison Kugel: Are you comfortable in
your skin at any weight?
Pam Grier: At any weight. I can gain
weight and lose weight, if I have to, for
whatever reason. I remember when I was
meeting with Spike Lee for a role while I
was still doing Frankie and Johnny. When
he saw me with weight on, he said, "Wow!
You're a little bit heavier than I thought.
Are you okay? Are you sick?" He didn't
know I was doing a play. I told him it
was appropriate for the character, and
that it's working. I didn’t want people to
come and see someone skinny and exotic
looking and have them not see and hear
[my] work.
Allison Kugel: I am truly surprised by
your point of view. It makes me wonder
if people really knew you at the height of
your fame.
Pam Grier: I don’t know if it's psycho-
logical or just human nature, but people
are used to seeing certain imagery in
advertising continuously, so that's their
filter. If I didn't gain the weight, I wouldn't
have gotten that job. And women in this
business won't gain weight because they're
afraid of not working. They want to be
attractive and have that value. I'm a person
that doesn't look at weight and judge
what's beautiful and what's not. I do know
that these heavier actors and actresses are
always working. Their work is fantastic,
and you see this wisdom, you see this
value. I know there is a designation within
society about who is going to be wise and
who isn't; who is going to be stupid. But
let me tell you, maybe because I've had
a sexuality and I still do now, it's kind of
interesting that these young men in their
forties are attempting to court me.
Allison Kugel: This morning, someone
said to me, "Tell her I love her. Tell her
I think she is amazing." I said, "Take a
number!"
Pam Grier: (Laughs) Way back when
women had weight on them, they
were zaftig and Rubenesque, and very
appealing to a lot of men. A lot of rugged,
handsome men would have a woman that
would be very zaftig, and not thin. They
didn't believe thin women could do any-
thing, and they would be hungry all the
time. If a woman can do something, a man
will have more respect for her. Maybe
when I was younger, men assumed that I
just went shopping and sat around by the
pool and didn’t do much. Then they'd be
shocked to see me changing my tire, fix-
ing screens, putting the fence up, pushing
manure and rock. Sometimes I would say
to men, "What do you need? Don't have
me have to fix this for you."
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