Gabourey Sidibe Feels Like A Model, Wants To Stab Yoga

'Precious' star Gabourey Sidibe has an honest and funny interview in February's Harper's Bazaar.

Sidibe, 26, is an Oscar front-runner for best actress and just finished filming a role in the pilot for the upcoming Showtime series 'The C Word.'

On posing for Bazaar:

"I feel like a model. It justifies everyone in my life who told me I wouldn't be anything until I lost weight. It justifies that little girl who cried because she didn't think she could be in front of the camera. And it's for other girls who feel like they can't do this or that and feel like they're not pretty and not worthy of having their photo taken."

On working out:

"I hate yoga so much. Like, if yoga was a person, I'd stab them." At the end of the day, "it doesn't make any sense to kill yourself, because who are you trying to be beautiful for? It's a mind game, not a body game."

On her self-image:

If she met herself at a party, "I'd think I was pretty. Is that weird? I might be really interested in me. I'd probably watch myself the whole night, then I'd come over and say, 'You're a really good dancer.' We'd talk for a while and then," she says, starting to giggle at the silliness of it, "we'd go home separately to avoid the paparazzi."

On her "brand-new" boyfriend:

"He's a regular guy working a regular job, and I'm scared to take him anywhere...When I went on Conan, I texted him and he said, 'You've got it. Don't slip on any banana peels and you'll be fine.'"

You can read the whole Bazaar interview here.

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Comments

[pinotnoir]

09:07 PM on 03/03/2010

She's happy!!!

Yup, healthwise she's got some challenges, but looking at Renee Zellwegger on Huffpost today, I'm not sure which of them I'd rather be.

[MrUniteUs]

05:46 PM on 03/03/2010

She needs to lose weight for health reason.

[jennwill80]

10:17 AM on 02/17/2010

In defense of the girls on the cover: I do not know if this is true for _everyone_ but I know most of the girls, even though this was their "breakout," already have some heavy acting credentials and have proven themselves as actresses we will continue to see.

All respect to Gabourey Sidibe--she obviously deserves it, always taking the high road as she does--but "Precious" was her first and only role. It could turn out to be a once in a lifetime thing for her, while these girls have worked their way up in the industry over years.

I still think it would have been a smart move on VF's behalf to include her though. That cover would have been much more interesting.

[littlebrowngirl]

04:44 PM on 01/11/2010

She is funny and sassy. I certainly wish her all the best.

The girl KNOWS that she is fat and does not need to be reminded . You should love yourself no matter what but only she can make the changes needed to live a long and healthy life. It is obvious that she knows this.

She certainly does not need the judgment of others.

The thing that I find interesting is that people feel like they have the RIGHT to offer advice on the weight of others. I have never seen anyone walk up to a stranger and say you need to stop smoking or drinking.

[Cyrenity]

11:24 AM on 01/28/2010

You must not get out much. Smokers are told regularly by strangers that they have a disgusting habit and are going to die.

[JUSTME]

08:47 PM on 02/17/2010

Actually, I talk to smokers all the time about how I went into heart failure (because of the smoking), before I realized I should stop. Also, as someone who's lost a lot of weight at various times, I can attest to the fact that life is better not-fat than fat. Your entire interaction with the world changes; your relationship to people in general changes. So, this girl may be smart and she may be funny, but there are many aspects of life she will never come to know if she does not learn to relegate food to its proper place. The trick to losing weight is understanding that you cannot eat everything and anything you want; you can't eat without accountability.

[Kina3]

02:16 PM on 01/11/2010

I'm glad she has a lot of self-confidence BUT I think she should evaulate her body health-wise. Stick thin isn't healthy but neither is obese. I think she should get herself down to a healthy weight so that she will have less-health related problems when she gets older (such diabetes, heart disease, etc.).

[harriettubman]

02:04 PM on 01/11/2010

LOL, I don't know about stabbing yoga or anything else but you can tell she finally LOVES herself. When you love yourself you don't care what other people think of you. Now that she has that out of the way she can lose weight for herself and health reasons.

[ConcernedAboutRFuture]

11:36 AM on 01/11/2010

"if yoga was a person I'd stab them"?????? Well, now we know how she handles conflict.... just stab them. What a sweet human being.

I feel sorry for all those morbidly obese people out there who are "comfortable with their bodies".... and they like themselves.

How can you, in any way, be comfortable carrying another person around on you all day? Climbing stairs? Bending down to pick up something off the floor? Comfortable?

Denial is a strong strong self-destructive tool.

[harriettubman]

02:06 PM on 01/11/2010

It's nt being in denial. It's called loving yourself first. Now that she has that under control she can lose weight for herself and health reasons. If you don't love yourself first, you'll end up losing weight for the boyfriend, Hollywood, friends, family, everybody but yourself!!! Stop trying to dictate this girl's emotions because she's full figured.

[Polish Scholar]

07:36 AM on 01/11/2010

Yoga can't save her morbidly obese self. She needs gastric bypass and like pronto!

[KIVPossum]

04:03 AM on 01/11/2010

Loving yourself is important. Being realistic is too. She's morbidly obese and that is NOT healthy no matter how you spin it.

As for being an amazing talent as many say, perhaps, perhaps not. She did wonderfully in one film...one. Was that a role that was just perfect for her, or will she be able to produce at that level in future productions?

[Pleneras]

07:34 AM on 01/11/2010

Good honest points. She seems to be a wonderful person inside and out. In her tv interviews she comes across as someone you really want to hang out with all the time but unfortunately this world shuns those who do not pass their basic test. If it wasn't for this film some people who suddenly became a fan would pass her on the street. Hopefully she has broken one part of that ugly wall built by those who would not think twice in saying hello to girls like her.

She is full of happiness right now and very well deserved. Monique scared the heck out of me. I knew many women like her when I was growing up in nyc. Monique deserves an Oscar.

[benne]

11:55 PM on 01/10/2010

Maybe she hasn't had anyone teach her modified Yoga, as in Yoga for Every Body or Yoga for the Rest of Us. As a fat person, I get scared of taking classes because some instructors feel that if you can't do it the way they do it, just forget it. One instructor once actually forced my leg into a position when I told him that my body couldn't do that. We need more classes for big people, and more caring instructors, especially if we want to encourage all of us to be fit.

[ElTommo]

09:18 PM on 02/17/2010

I hope that instructor is no longer employed, because that is not what yoga is about, and is unacceptable. I am sorry you had a bad experience, but I'm very glad that you didn't allow it to discourage you from continuing to practice!

[robjh1]

09:57 PM on 01/10/2010

If she is healthy let it rip. If not, watch what you eat. But remember you don't have to be skinny to be beautiful.

[rekk]

09:38 PM on 01/10/2010

Maybe it's the way this girl thinks about yoga (which is meditation practice that uses the body). One should use one's body and eat healthy food because IT FEELS GOOD. She hasn't experienced the sensual pleasure of being healthy, and THAT is a shame.

[SmolderingRuin]

06:45 PM on 01/10/2010

Her total self-absorption is a form of yoga itself.

[kathy001]

06:04 PM on 01/10/2010

I have never met a person who did not have at least one issue with themselves. Actually, I don't think I've ever met anyone who didn't have several issues. It's how we deal with those issues that makes us who we are. When you feel shame, beat yourself over the head and hold yourself in lower esteem because of a weight issue, perceived beauty issue, a smoking issue or any other issue, you actually make that problem worse and you do a great injustive to yourself.

A weight issue, a smoking habit or whatever does not define you. And people who try to define you by shortcomings that they perceive are not worth acknowledging. This little lady has it all over the people who try to define her by her weight and try to shame her with snarky comments about how her health is being effected. It's her health and her business. And those people who try to shame her should spend more time reflecting on what has made them such spiteful and judgemental people.

[goddessNdiva]

04:23 PM on 01/10/2010

Self love is a beautiful thing.

Not being influenced by peer pressure is having super hero mental strength.

Gabourey is the Wonder Woman for her generation.

[Doc0976]

12:32 AM on 01/11/2010

She is also vastly misinformed if she thinks she has to "kill" herself to lose weight simply to be "beautiful." As a remarkable talent, she has given up on her body and herself. She is denying herself the right to a healthy and fit life while trying to convince the rest of us that we judge her because she is fat. It's not about beauty, it's about being fit so that she doesn't rob herself of the years she wants to enjoy. Being obese is an outward sign of being unhealthy inside and out.

[harriettubman]

02:09 PM on 01/11/2010

That's how Hollywood and the supermodels do it--anorexia, bulimia, dr ugs, etc., everything to remain stick thin but the healthy, normal way.

[Wombfruit]

01:53 PM on 03/08/2010

Agreed! Having been in her shoes and having multiple people in my life who would negatively tell me to lose weight, I rebelled against their words and kept the weight on and resolved to "love myself" and "see my beauty" even though I was overweight. The positives? I have higher self esteem than your average person. The negatives? My blood pressure went up! So I met myself in the middle and said "if I love myself, I'll also love me enough to get to a weight that is healthy for ME." I hope Gabby gets to a place where she can be honest with herself about her weight. It's not about beauty or trend: it's about heart health and what's healthy for ones body.
Sometimes it has to come in stages. She has to work through her self esteem issues first and when SHE is ready, she will lose that weight.
I walk now, and just the little walking I've done has made my blood pressure go from high to normal.
Gabby will do it in her own timing, but hopefully before it is too late!