Mrs Macau and I were watching CRIMINAL MINDS when she asked if the dark haired FBI agent (not Hotch) was a lesbian. ‘No you’re thinking of FLASH FORWARD’. Which prompted us to conclude that so many mainsteam actresses are of the same shape - almost impossibly thin and with no bust to speak of - that it must be a casting issue. Not simply that casting would prefer skinny types, but that busty women are being declined for roles because of their figure.
This is an outrage! We were appalled to make this giant leap of illogic!
Obviously Pam A in Baywatch doesn’t count as her boobs were the point of the show. But mainstream busty actresses? 7 of 9 maybe? Salma Hayek?
So while a long thread filled with links to pics of busty mainstream actresses would be a nice side-effect, what I’m wondering is whether any Dopers have thoughts/anecdotes or evidence of this happening? ‘She’s perfect - but her tits are too distracting’ or even more extreme - would some consider breast reduction in order to get roles?
Two words; Christina Hendricks. My god when I’m evil overlord I’m having her cloned and making a harem. mmm… oh! and Angelina Jolie. Maybe they can remove a bit of the crazy in the cloning vats. Oooh and Drew Barrymore. I’ve thought of more, but I don’t want to hog them all for myself.
More to your OP, I have noticed a lot of drama/cop shows on TV have moved to the ‘let’s use waif-er thin actresses’ model of casting lately. I wonder if they’re trying to convey more of a masculine aura with them, and trying not to distract viewers with boobs. C’mon people! It’s TV! We want distraction! We want boobs!
Maybe we watch different shows, but I’m having a hard time thinking of any non-busty actress, at least on TV. Can you cite a few of those? Even if they’re thin the breast size seems to be generally played up or enhanced somehow.
I’d say that Yvonne is more toward busty and Sarah is more toward normal (if you know the show, it’s a bit confusing, because Yvonne plays a character named Sarah).
Neither is what I’d call waif-ish, but seem normal-athletic build.
ETA: I’d guess that those who are extremely busty are generally typecast as bimbos or sexpots, but then it’s also not the most common thing to find extremely busty women everywhere you go.
It’s basic logic - women who aren’t thin can get thin; women who don’t have large breasts (which is the vast majority of them), can’t get large breasts, at least without surgery. Hence, in show business (where women are paid to look good), you get a lot more thin women than busty women.
That said, here’s a 2007 list of the top-paid actresses in Hollywood:
Reese Witherspoon
Angelina Jolie
Cameron Diaz
Nicole Kidman
Renee Zellweger
Sandra Bullock
Julia Roberts
Drew Barrymore
Jodie Foster
Halle Berry
Of these, I’d consider three - Jolie, Barrymore and Berry - to be busty. 3 out of 10 isn’t bad; better than the general female population.
I’ve recently been bemoaning the fact that the CSI shows seem to cast only young, thin and “enhanced” (boobs and lips) types for all female roles, even if they can’t act very well. I’m not seeing the bias against busts the OP is reporting. Maybe I just need to stop watching CSI.
I think Christina Hendricks proves the OP’s point as much as she disproves it. I’ve seen her relating in interviews, somewhat wrly, that people have told her she must be very ‘grateful’ for Mad Men because where else on tv except a show set in the 1960s could apparently someone of her shape allow her to have a leading role?
(* “All of a sudden everyone says, ‘Oh, it must be so great to be on a show from the sixties, because now you can be on TV.’ It’s strange how astounded people are that I have breasts.”* - CH, Esquire )
The aforementioned Christina Hendricks. Alison Brie on Community and Mad Men. Julia Benson on Stargate: Universe.
Amanda Tapping on Stargate: SG1. Lisa Edelstein on House.
The google image shots of that girl from The Big Bang Theory is a marginal case.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus on New Adventures of Old Christine.
Courtney Cox-Whatsherface, Christa Miller, and Busy Phillips on Cougar Town. Cobie Smulders on How I Met Your Mother.
And the poster child of being cast for your bust: Jennifer Love Hewitt on The Ghost Whisperer.
(And I didn’t even get to nbc.com or the CW/WB/whatever.)
Ugh. I know that I read some article complaining about that recently, but I can’t find it again. IIRC, the general rule is that women with large breasts tend to be turned down for more serious roles.
On some shows there will be a definite bias based on costuming problems. I remember this was an issue with ST:TOS. They had to design “alien” outfits for guest stars and really hated having to figure out how to get support into an outfit without looking like they did it. Bill Theiss mentions this in Gerrold’s “The World of Star Trek.”
While I can’t speak for Paget Brewster of Criminal Minds, an episode of FlashForward a few weeks ago had the dark haired FBI agent Janis wake up from a dream. Wearing bedclothes, it’s very clear she’s pretty busty and the only reason you’d think she wasn’t is because of the unflattering FBI suits both characters wear. So maybe Paget Brewster is secretly busty too.
On the trend as a whole, I think all of the listed actresses prove it’s just a bunch of hooey. There are plenty of busty and non-busty actresses working in Hollywood.
I’ve just looked at two lists of celebrity breast sizes and I don’t see any obvious bias one way or the other. More women, and more actresses have B size breasts than any other, followed by C. Not as many women have A or D breasts, and the same goes for actresses.
It is true that more actresses from the 50s and 60s had larger breasts, and singers seem to do better if they can hit a C or D note. But the notion that Jolie, Winslet and Johannson are locked out of serious roles is just silly.
I miss actresses with curves. Linda Carter was all natural and stunning. Sophia Loren and Raquel Welch will always have a warm place in my heart.
Pam Anderson is the typical silicon faker that’s on tv these days. I get so tired of the plastic boobies. So many women ruin their looks with that fake crap.
Was it the one about the casting call for Pirates of the Caribbean specifying that no enhanced actresses need apply? I’d better not search; I’m at work.
