After accepting her body image issues, actress Annie Funke has landed in the arms of Jake Gyllenhaal (well, as his costar) in the Off-Broadway production of If There Is I Haven’t Found It Yet.
“He’s told me a few times, ‘When we go out there, whatever happens, we have each other’s back in this,’” Funke told The New York Post.
The actress, who has long struggled with her weight, admitted to being bullied when she was younger. “There’s a pressure to be thin, in Hollywood and everywhere,” Funke said. “I’ve been on every fad diet and my weight goes up and down, and I spent so much of my life wishing I’d fit into a size ten. But my journey’s been the opposite. The weight’s actually been a blessing!”
After appearing as an understudy for Tracy Turnblad in Haispray, Funke lost more than 60 pounds. “It was really interesting to try to find work in a new type,” she said. “In fact, it was a struggle, so I’ve since put some of the weight back on.”
Now in If There Is I Haven’t Found It Yet, Funke has to strip down to her skivvies in a particularly difficult scene—a huge challenge for the body-conscious actress. “When I first read the script and saw, ‘Anna strips down to her bra and panties,’ there was that oh my gosh moment—am I really going to have to do that?” Funke recalled. “But when I read it as a whole, and understood what she was going through, and how important it was for the audience to see her that vulnerable…it’s one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever gotten to do.”
