GLOW star Alison Brie covers the May issue of Women’s Health, on newsstands April 21. Inside, the 37-year-old shares how strength-training has helped her to confront body dysmorphia head-on, and how yoga and physical exercise have been key to overcoming depression, a condition she’s battled throughout her life.
On returning to the physically intense training regimen for Netflix’s GLOW: “It really does come back pretty quickly. By season four of GLOW, we have the muscle memory. The thing to relearn is the fearlessness and commitment. You can’t do any of the moves halfway.”
On how preparing for GLOW’s physical requirements seismically changed her: “It helped with my relationship to my body times a million. Before, I always felt at odds with it; I wanted it to be something it wasn’t. But I didn’t have the tools to do that in a healthy way.”
On how training for GLOW was different from her normal workouts: “It took the motivation out of being skinny for Hollywood standards and made it about being strong for lifting other women, literally. There was a real goal.”
On how her previous approach to fitness was all wrong: “Everything was cardio, cardio, cardio.”
On rethinking her workout routine 9 years ago, when she began working out with trainer Jason Walsh, CEO of Rise Nation: “I thought, I’m in my late 20s, I should probably start doing some strength training.”
On how strength training changed her body: “…being small was a side effect of being super fit and muscular. I like to lead the charge against people thinking that strength training makes women bulky. Jason uses my body as an example at the gym, because I can lift more than a lot of people. You can pack a lot of muscle into a lean little body.”
On whether she still grapples with body dysmorphia: “Oh definitely. Still do! I go back to red carpet photos where I thought I looked so horrible, and there are some where I now think, God, I looked beautiful. And I’ll remember: An hour before that I was in tears; I thought I was so disgusting. I think it’s something I’ll probably be working through my whole life. And depression too.”
On the mental illness that runs in her family – including with her maternal grandmother who had schizophrenia and went through periods of homelessness: “The rest of my family then dealt with the trickle-down effects of trauma. And that meant depression more than anything.”
On dealing with her own depression, which Brie says “comes out of nowhere and really blindsides me”: “When I’ve been in a really serious depression, I’ll drag myself to a yoga class – even if I don’t want to be around people – tears streaming down my face. But, Get in class, get out of your head, get blood flowing. It ends up helping eventually.”
On how her marriage to Dave Franco has also helped her work through her mental health: “I’m so lucky I’m married to a really wonderful, open person. We have great lines of communication, and I can talk often about my feelings.”
On her conversations with Franco, who gave her perspective when she was in the depths of self-loathing about her body: “It’s been funny talking to him about it. He said, ‘Before I knew you, I’m not sure I believed body dysmorphia was a real thing. It’s so interesting to me what you see – and what I’m seeing when I’m looking at you – and the frank discussions we have about it.’”
On how a streamlined diet – which includes upping her lean protein intake and removing sugar as she gets closer to shooting a season of GLOW – keeps her mental state more balanced: “I used to feel more out of control with it. Being more diligent has been helpful for me mentally.”
On whether she feels more part of a team than a cast in respect to her role on GLOW: “One hundred percent. And I feel like the captain. I want to motivate everyone.”
[Photo Credit: Aingeru Zorita/Women’s Health Magazine]
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