Zoe Kravitz talks eating disorder

She was born the daughter of rock n’ roll icon and sex symbol Lenny Kravitz and a teenage television star, Lisa Bonet and lived in the shadows of those two for her teenage years.  Now she’s 26 years old, and ready to define her name on her own terms—in fashion, in film, in music—and to step from behind the shadows of her famous parents.

But those steps haven’t been without a stumble here and there. One of them being an eating disorder. Common for Hollywood celebrities.

“I had a really hard time when I was 16, 17, 18. I started with the eating disorder in high school,” Zoe explains. “She trails off at this, and puts her hand to the side of her face, rubbing her right ear, and then dials back to the beginning of that thought: “Just [a hard time] loving myself.”

In high school, she became anorexic and bulimic. She’d battle with the two at various degrees until the last two or so years. “I think it was part of being a woman, and being surrounded by [fame],” she explains. “I don’t think it was about the fame, but I think it was definitely about being around that world, seeing that world. I felt pressured.”

Zoe Kravitz also shares that her mom, Lisa Bonet, was worried she might slip into old habits while shooting The Road Within in which she played young woman battling anorexia:

“It was f****d up, man,” she sighs. “You could see my rib cage. I was just trying to lose more weight for the film but I couldn’t see: You’re there. Stop. It was scary.” She got sick after filming wrapped. She didn’t get her period regularly because she was too malnourished. Her immune system shut down, her thyroid was thrown off. Recovering from the brutal shoot, she wasn’t receptive to praises from friends who were happy she was gaining weight, either. “I was like, ‘I don’t want to gain weight,’ as opposed to being like…

…‘Good, I’m a normal human being.’”

“My mother’s a…,” she says, hesitating, “…beautiful woman, and I think, in some way, I felt intimidated by that sometimes.” Also: “My dad dated a lot of supermodels,” she laughs.

“Everyone sees themselves in some weird, obscure way.” And its that vision that matters.

Here are some symptoms of eating disorders:

Anorexia nervosa patients:

• Maintain a weight that’s more than 15 percent lower than a normal body weight
• Have an intense fear of gaining pounds
• Have a distorted image of their bodies
• Deny that they have an illness
• Among women, stop menstruating for at least three months in a row

Bulimia nervosa patients:

• Binge at least twice a week for three months
• Feel as if they can’t control eating binges
• Think constantly about food and their weight
• Eat in secret and very quickly
• Binge until there’s no food left, someone interrupts them, or their stomach is very uncomfortable
• Feel guilty after the binge and may purge, drastically restrict food later, or exercise excessively

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