Elizabeth Banks: Images of myself can make me insecure

Elizabeth Banks battles feelings of insecurity over “images” of herself.

The ‘Pitch Perfect’ star has revealed looking at pictures of herself after events can change her “entire perception” of the night, as happy memories of the fun she had are often replaced by anxiety over the way she looks in photos.

She said: “Images of myself have always affected me.”

And recalling one specific moment in which she attended a school dance where she had an “amazing time”, she added: “This is before social media. I confronted a photo of myself after the fact, way after the fact, and it changed my entire perception of the night I had. On the night I experienced this dance, I had an amazing time. I got that photo and all I could think about was, ‘Oh my God, all anybody was looking at was my chicken legs and my raging acne, and my shiny forehead.’ The fact that it could ruin an evening for me still strikes me. I can still feel that feeling.”

The 47-year-old actress then encouraged other people struggling with their body image, especially when it comes to pictures, to remember “images aren’t our bodies”.

Speaking during her ‘My Body, My Podcast’ Audible original series, she said: “Self-images are incredibly powerful and there are never more images being made than now, and never more tools, like filters and Photoshop, to alter those images. It’s important to be reminded that images aren’t our bodies. They’re just pictures of our bodies.”

Meanwhile, Elizabeth previously said she is “uninterested” in having cosmetic surgery.

She said in 2019: “That’s something I will happily say to everyone, like I have not put anything in my face, I’ve never had a needle in my face.

“I’m really uninterested in the psychology of starting to mess with my face.”