Christina Hendricks Talks High School Days, Being Bullied

She may be walking the red carpet with the in-crowd now, but that wasn't always the case for Christina Hendricks. Esquire's 2010 "sexiest woman alive" confesses she was once a tortured high school student, who was spat on in her Virginia school's hallways.

"There was a long corridor with lockers on either side and kids would sit on top of them and spit on you," Hendricks told the U.K.'s Mirror. "It was like something out of 'Lord of the Flies.'”

And Hendricks' eccentric look didn't help, when it came to being the target of more than a few harsh words. The "Mad Men" star remembers her purple hair and goth style contributing to her bullies' ammo. But even though the buxom redhead wasn't sitting at the popular table in the cafeteria, there was once place she did fit in -- with the theater kids.

"I was a goth kid," Hendricks explained. "I dyed my hair about 42 different colors, shaved it at the back and wore black make-up. Kids can be pretty judgmental about people who are different. But instead of breaking down and conforming, I stood firm. That is also probably why I was unhappy."

Hendricks is far from the first celebrity who has admitted that they have been the target of bullying. Famous faces like Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner, Christian Bale and Winona Ryder have all dealt with the national epidemic.

But further contributing to Hendricks' unhappiness, her home life didn't provide respite from the hurtful comments of her schoolmates. The actress recalls her mother telling her she looked "horrible and ugly."

"If I could go back and tell my 14-year-old self anything it would be, 'Don't worry. You're going to be doing exactly what you want to be doing and those people who are assholes now are still going to be assholes in 20 years. So let it go!"

Wise words, Christina.

For more with Christina, click over to the Mirror.

Check out Hendricks and her fellow voluptuous celebrities below:

• Jennifer Love Hewitt

  (Getty)

• Reese Witherspoon

  (Getty)

• Hayden Panettiere

  (Getty)

• Halle Berry

  (Pacific Coast News)

• Rihanna

  (FilmMagic)

• Elizabeth Banks

  (Getty)

• Jennifer Lawrence

• Miley Cyrus

  (Getty)

• Rumer Willis

  (Getty)

• Rose McGowan

  (Getty)

• Reese Witherspoon

  (AP)

• Christina Hendricks

• Sofia Vergara

• Eva Longoria

  (Eva Longoria, Twitter)

• Kristin Chenoweth

• Jennifer Love Hewitt

• Jessica Simpson

• Nicole Scherzinger

• Scarlett Johansson

• Kim Zolciak

• Kendra Wilkinson

• Mariah Carey

• Heidi Montag

• Jennifer Lopez

• Jenny McCarthy

• Megan Fox

• Holly Madison

• Anna Kournikova

• Pamela Anderson

• Katy Perry

• Olivia Munn

• Christina Aguilera

• January Jones

• Halle Berry

• Kim Kardashian

• Carmen Electra

• Miley Cyrus

• Sofia Vergara

• Salma Hayek

• Beyonce

Related on HuffPost:

Comments

[Cougar90210]

01:07 PM on 02/25/2012

[S]he who laughs last . . .

[vcgraphics]

08:31 AM on 02/24/2012

Now to all of you people that Bullied her. (HE HE HE Especially if any guys did)
Don't you wish you made friends with her instead now.

HA!! Suck on it now LOL

[Pennsylvanianne]

07:57 AM on 02/24/2012

How did Robert Pattinson and Christian Bale deal with the "national epidemic" of bullying when both grew up in a different nation (United Kingdom)? HuffPo writers, your inexperience is showing again!

[valeskas]

03:09 PM on 02/23/2012

When in school, if you are not a bully yourself, you will be bullied. I was very timid and small as a child and went through bullying. But when I grew into a teenager, because I was taller and looked stronger the bullying stopped. To this day I think bullying is not acceptable.

[madcityy]

02:23 PM on 02/23/2012

lots of us were bullied.our bully,,went onto be a dem. congressman............he stayed a bully all his life....................and a drunk driver.................toooooooooooo.

[AZZXX]

09:47 AM on 02/23/2012

I tried to read the article, but after 13 grammatical and spelling errors, I had to stop.

[Pennsylvanianne]

07:58 AM on 02/24/2012

The interns are at it again!

[Iahael]

10:28 PM on 02/22/2012

On one hand we have every dramatis personae from our treasure trove of 80's tropes; the bullies, the outsiders, etc, on the other, the reality of a culture, at the heart of it, based on violence, implicit, implied, mental, emotional, cultural and/or economic. Our high school culture reflects this, micro-cosmically, and what Ms. Hendricks went through, what so many of us went through, is finally getting a bit of attention. But make no mistake; there is a very real belief system held by many in this culture that believes in bullying, needs this kind of primitive display behavior to enforce social paradigms all of us still, if just unconsciously maintain -- a psychic pecking order, a permanent state of fear dominating our existence.

T.'.

[taxday1010]

01:16 PM on 02/23/2012

Interesting. So conceptually what you are attesting to is that in high school you were a total dork.

[Iahael]

01:57 PM on 02/23/2012

High School? I still am, though I like to consider myself a Nerd -- the "Other N-word". American primitive social behavior being what it is, once I grew tall enough, the normal primate display aggression (bullying) stopped, despite the fact that I had just become a taller wimp.

Why is this "interesting" to you? Can't help but try to bully someone on a bullying post? Thanks for proving my point.

T.'.

[sgvette]

09:05 PM on 02/22/2012

Every single human on the face of the Earth has been bullied, apparently.

Maybe we are overdoing the "bullying" thing just a bit?

[AZZXX]

09:49 AM on 02/23/2012

Exactly. Bullying is systematic and comprehensive torture. It's not when somebody doesn't lke you or treats you badly. EVERYBODY had that at some point in their life. I don't even give any of these claims credibility anymore.

[InVinoVeritasBC]

04:58 PM on 02/24/2012

How is asking for society to stop treating others with disrespect a bad thing? Bullying doesn't have to happen. This society is crumbling under the weight of selfishness and self-centeredness. What's wrong with teaching our children (and practicing what we teach them) to be kind to their fellow human?

[Justgo4it]

08:07 PM on 02/22/2012

I bet if she had those boobs back then, she'd have had plenty of bodyguards, lol.

[Pennsylvanianne]

07:59 AM on 02/24/2012

She did not. When she first started in show business, she was thin all over (Internet pictures prove this). After they magically appeared, she suddenly was cast in "Mad Men."

[cattapalooza]

11:47 AM on 02/24/2012

you don't understand the comment do you? this is about bullying is it not? so I said had she had them back then, she'd have had plenty of bodyguards, do you get it now.

[GeorgeWGump]

05:20 PM on 02/22/2012

I have an overwhelming urge to play motorboat.

[Kid Notorious]

05:19 PM on 02/22/2012

Its a great message... But does anybody else find it just a *little* disingenuous when these beautiful people talk about how bad they had it growing up? Yeah, you had a rough patch, most of us did, but you bounced back and now are world famous... Maybe I'm just cynical...

[JShankel]

05:51 PM on 02/22/2012

Yes, I think the idea is to give some modicum of hope to kids being bullied today that they can grow up and achieve.

[ChelleAgain]

07:30 PM on 02/22/2012

Isn't this the same concept behind the It Gets Better campaign? There is good in telling people who are treated poorly that it even happens to the "beautiful" and eventually successful people.

[kittiking]

04:18 PM on 02/22/2012

But you are not wearing purple hair and shaving the back of your head any longer either now are you dear? I see kids purposely making themselves look ugly then daring people to stare at them or judge them... If you don't want to fit in and choose to thumb your nose at those who do... then don't be surprised when your weirdness is not applauded by the mainstream - at least in high school - You are making a killing off of your looks now.. not your goth/weird/altermainstream looks, but your ability to appeal to the masses, had you chosen to do that in highschool, I have no doubts you would have been one of those sitting on the lockers spitting... your choices and attitudes toward mainstream was spitting at them, just the same - just metaphorically through your choices.

[Barry Peterson]

05:08 PM on 02/22/2012

Well THAT was certainly a lame attempt to justify bullying.
"It's the victim's fault."

[kittiking]

12:05 PM on 02/23/2012

Nope not at all. Just pointing out a bit of lame hipocracy on her part. "look how you mean highschool kids treated me when I dressed and acted in a bizarre fashion" an "look how much money I make now that I get it, and dress attractively and behave normally"
Keep creating victims to feed the bullies. A bit of good parenting may have helped her - and maybe school policy that did not allow purple hair and goth clothing. People like you make it attractive to be a "victim"

[pictureunprfct]

05:32 PM on 02/22/2012

I can name at least a dozen people off the top of my head who have made themselves millionaires by bring goth/weird/altermainstream. And who are you to tell people what is weird and what is not, it's subjective and you certainly don't sound like an authority on anything.

[kittiking]

11:54 AM on 02/23/2012

Name them then. I doubt that weirdness was the attribute that made them millions as you seem to be claiming. Also, since I didn't define what weird was - and you seem to be the authority on it - go ahead and enlighten me on where the line is drawn. I was pointing out the hipocricy of looking back to the highschool days and claiming "ha ha look at me now" ... when in fact what she looks like now - is the opposite of what she describes herself as looking in highschool. That point was missed by too many.

[smpj]

03:52 PM on 02/22/2012

A lot of us took our hits from the High School cultural elites. You think when you're in it, nothing could be more important than the people in that building. And then you find out in spades, once you've graduated, there actually is life after High School.

If that could only be more easily seen while still 15 to 18 emersed in it.

[DMGMD]

08:20 PM on 02/22/2012

I don't recall being bullied or knowing anyone who was bullied. My son is a 14 year old freshman and he doesn't recognize the portrayal of high school on TV news as being filled with cliques of popular kids bullying the unpopular ones. Sure kids talk smack, but rather than wilt and run away, my kid gives back or laughs it off. I'm not saying that it doesn't happen, but I've only heard rumors about it rather than actually knowing any children who have experienced actual bullying.

[FlaviaDeLuce]

01:55 PM on 02/22/2012

I can't picture her as a Goth.. not a fan of CH but her story is sick, kids can be naastyy

[GraceNotes]

04:48 PM on 02/22/2012

I love your screen name! That is a great series!

[FlaviaDeLuce]

05:25 PM on 02/22/2012

Thank you :) I only read the 1st book so far but I have them all

[HurricaneDitka420]

01:41 PM on 02/22/2012

Even as a goth in high school, she must have been gorgeous.