Beanie Feldstein, known for her roles in coming-of-age films like "Booksmart" and "Lady Bird," has navigated a personal journey of grief, body image struggles, and self-acceptance, all while establishing herself as a prominent figure in Hollywood and on Broadway. This article explores Feldstein's experiences, drawing from interviews and personal reflections, to understand her evolving relationship with her body, her career, and the challenges she has overcome.
Overcoming Grief and Finding Strength
In December 2017, Beanie Feldstein and her brother, Jonah Hill, faced the unexpected loss of their eldest sibling, Jordan Feldstein, who passed away at the age of 40 due to a pulmonary embolism. This profound loss deeply affected Feldstein, who opened up about her grief in an interview with the Sunday Times. She expressed her desire for others experiencing similar pain to feel less alone, emphasizing that grief is a complex feeling that morphs over time but never truly disappears.
Feldstein praised Jordan, sharing that he was an amazing and intelligent person, and added that he was a wonderful brother, father, and son to boot. Throughout the piece, Beanie also stated that she's now a part of the club full of suffering and questions and assures readers they aren't alone if they, too, belong to this club.
Jonah Hill also shared a touching memory about both Bryant and his brother, posting two photos on Instagram taken courtside at a Lakers game. Hill wrote, “My brother and I grew up worshiping the Lakers and because of my job we got to sit next to Kobe and the whole team! We were literally buzzing with excitement to meet our hero and it’s one of my favorite memories ever. It’s my favorite memory with my brother . I’m sitting between Kobe and my brother and now they’re both gone.” Hill said that it was his “favorite picture,” writing in part, “I think it represents for me, all of the hard and amazing things in life and how fleeting they are.”
Embracing Body Positivity
Feldstein's journey to body acceptance began in her mid-teens when she had an epiphany about her weight. She realized that she looked different from other girls at auditions but decided not to change herself. This mindset shift led her to adopt the mantra, "They either want the Bean or they don’t want the Bean," which she applied not only to her body but also to her personality and other aspects of herself.
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Growing up, Beanie Feldstein felt pressured to lose weight. Feldstein told Vogue that it was around 16 when she realized her weight was fine and that she wasn't the problem. "This standard is the problem," she noted which is the notion that everyone should be thin. She wrote, "My family, doctors, and society at large constantly were telling me that I was too heavy … I despised trying to lose weight, and I resented everyone that made me feel like I had to." Feldstein noted that all the expectations fell to the wayside once she blocked out what people were saying.
Before going off to college she was finally happy with her body and felt liberated from all the pressure. From the physical demands of her Broadway career, Feldstein began losing some unintentional weight, and in the essay reflected on how weird it was that she started to be seen and was receiving tons of compliments.
Her brother, Jonah Hill, has also been open about his struggles with body image issues and experiencing body-shaming comments in Hollywood. Earlier this year, Hill called out paparazzi for publishing photos of him shirtless while surfing on a beach in Malibu. He shared a screenshot of an article on Instagram, using the caption to speak out on body image to help encourage others to feel more comfortable with themselves just as they are. “I’m 37 and finally love and accept myself,” he wrote in part. “This isn’t a ‘good for me’ post . And it’s definitely not a ‘feel bad for me post’. It’s for the the kids who don’t take their shirt off at the pool. Have fun. You’re wonderful and awesome and perfect. All my love.”
Today, Feldstein describes her relationship with her body as “very beautiful, explaining, “I have my insecure moments, but society’s notion of what a body is supposed to look like became so uninteresting to me.”
Navigating Typecasting and Breaking Barriers
Despite her love for musical theater, Feldstein recognizes that the industry can be "very narrow-minded and rooted in typecasting" when it comes to race, gender, and body diversity. She refused to be confined to stereotypical roles, even vowing never to play Tracy Turnblad in "Hairspray" after being repeatedly asked about it.
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“It was at a very young age that I started to nudge up against this idea that kept subliminally being fed to me, and put a very sour taste in my mouth,” she said. “It really made me feel like the walls were closing in and, like, this is such a narrow understanding of who I can be and what I can do. And I don’t accept that.”
Feldstein's determination to break barriers led her to make history on Broadway, starring as Fanny Brice in the first Broadway revival of "Funny Girl" since Barbra Streisand played the lead character in 1964.
Career Beginnings and Education
Beanie Feldstein's first professional role came on the hit sitcom "My Wife and Kids" when she was only nine years old. However, she had been acting for a couple of years prior, having discovered her passion for the stage at the age of five when she joined Creative Kids, an art company with a theater program. She told The Wrap that she performed in up to five theater productions a year.
After high school, Feldstein decided to continue her education, attending college and initially attempting to balance auditions with her course load. However, she eventually decided to prioritize her studies, putting her professional acting career on hold. She told the Times, "I felt I wasn't writing the papers I wanted to write or performing as well as I wanted to, academically … I felt rushed in the audition rooms and wasn't putting my best foot forward.
In 2016 Beanie Feldstein made her first big screen debut in the second installment of Zack Efron and Seth Rogen's comedy "Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising."
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"Booksmart" and Beyond
After being cast in the 2019 film "Booksmart," Feldstein went from side-kick to full-fledged star. For Beanie Feldstein's winning performance in Olivia Wilde's "Booksmart," she was nominated in 2019 for a Golden Globes award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy. The comedic actor stated, "To be a part of that is so meaningful, and it speaks to 'Booksmart's' ability to touch people and for the HFPA to be calling out a sleepover movie …
Booksmart was Beanie’s first post-Lady Bird movie role (following a stint on Broadway alongside Bette Midler in Hello, Dolly!), and that film helped set the standard for what she wanted to work on in the future. “I think what Lady Bird taught me was how much I can genuinely not just like something, but deeply love it, and deeply identify with it, and feel so much pride that I didn't know was possible,” she says. “Booksmart felt so in line with my personal taste and my ethos and my morality and my humor and my love and my loyalty to my friends and it was truly a no brainer.”
Part of the reason Beanie says she has such a deep appreciation for the film is because of Olivia’s leadership in creating a movie that feels progressive and true without trying too hard to make a show out of doing those things. “Olivia always said you have to change the paradigm from within and I think her film is a beautiful example of that,” Beanie says. “It's not saying, ‘We should be doing this,’ it's just quietly doing it, and I think that it's true for representation, for diversity, for the complexity of female characters.”
It’s also true for Booksmart’s portrayal of body image. Back in 2017, Beanie wrote an essay for Refinery29 about her desire for people to stop commenting on her body, no matter what size she was, no matter if she’d gained weight or lost it. Booksmart, not so coincidentally, reflects that attitude. In one scene, Molly overhears her classmates insulting her and her single-minded intensity. But their negative talk never veers into insults about her looks.
Family Ties and Influences
Born on June 24, 1993, in Los Angeles, Beanie Feldstein is the youngest child of Richard and Sharon Feldstein. Her siblings, Jonah Hill and the late Jordan Feldstein, have also made their mark in the entertainment industry. It appears that Richard and Sharon's careers in the industry may have influenced all three of their kids to break into Hollywood. Beanie is pretty with her family and credits her mother for being her rock and molding her into the woman she is today and wouldn't know where she would be without her presence.
Beanie Feldstein and Jonah Hill may be ten years apart, but these two have a close bond. During an interview with The Cut, Feldstein was asked if being in Hollywood was tougher because she had such a famous brother and if he felt she had to prove her ability. She immediately started discussing their relationship and shared that she doesn't see him like this superstar but rather the brother she spent so many years sharing a bathroom with. She also remarked that Hill was one of the most significant people in her life and disclosed to the outlet that being Jonah Hill's sister is her "greatest joy." Feldstein additionally talked about their connection to Us Weekly and admitted that when they attend family gatherings, they can be seen spending time with one another and having heart-to-heart moments. Hill has stated that he has been Feldstein's biggest fan since day.
Representation and the Future of Hollywood
Actors Beanie Feldstein, Britney Young, and MJ Rodriguez rocked the big and small screens this year in awe-inspiring ways. These performances couldn't be more different, but they've all had similar effects on viewers: We were captivated and transformed by them. Credit for that goes to Feldstein, Rodriguez, and Young, who have changed the landscape for women in Hollywood just by being themselves. They've each pushed the needle forward for representation in various ways-be it race, gender, sexual orientation, size.
As for the future of the industry, Feldstein, Rodriguez, and Young are hopeful, and they have a key piece of advice for creators: Stories about particular experiences should be told by people who lived through them. "When there are shows that are educational and entertaining, you should cast people who have been through those experiences so they can tell the story right," Rodriguez said. And those stories should be varied. Young wants to see more plus-size narratives that have nothing to do with losing weight.
Feldstein feels similarly and is ready for female-focused entertainment to not be considered niche. When asked about people calling her movie Booksmart the female Superbad (her brother is Jonah Hill), she said, "Why do we have to be a girl version of a boy movie? Why does Bridesmaids have to be the girl Hangover? Why is it movies and then girl movies? Books and chick-lit. It's so old, and I'm over it. That narrative was belittling."
Personal Life
In December of 2019, Beanie Feldstein and movie producer Bonnie Chance Roberts made their relationship public when they appeared on the red carpet together at the New York premiere of the movie "Cats." According to Teen Vogue, Feldstein and Roberts met on the set of the comedy film "How to Build a Girl." When asked by Bustle in 2021 where she saw herself in sixteen years her answer included her betrothed.