Brittany Snow is one of those celebs who I’ve enjoyed onscreen — in the “Hairspray” remake, “Prom Night,” a atypical adventure of “Gossip Girl” during a Lily Van Der Woodsen anamnesis — but didn’t anticipate abundant about. But it turns out, she’s absolutely a absolutely air-conditioned actuality with a big heart. Brittany works carefully with several organizations to advance brainy bloom in adolescent people, based on her own adventures actuality afraid in school, and later, as she told Bodies magazine, aggressive anorexia, exercise bulimia (instead of throwing up, you exercise too much), anatomy dysmorphia, and cutting.
In ablaze of the contempo suicides by LGBT adolescence that accept casting a ablaze on bullying, Brittany teamed up with The Jed Foundation, a suicide blockage group, and MTV for the “Love Is Louder” campaign. She’s advancement bodies to cheep adorning letters like “#loveislouder than hate” and “I’ve acquainted abandoned and hopeless, but #loveislouder than the pain.” Celebs like Pink and Vinny from “Jersey Shore” accept announced out with “Love Is Louder” videos as well.
After the jump, I batten with 24-year-old Brittany about “Love Is Louder” and her adventures actuality bullied.
When I was in average academy and aerial school, there was absolutely a babe who was a annoyer who went as far as sending a agenda every day of altered means of how to annihilate myself, authoritative dances about me and assuming them in the lunchroom, putting them on fliers and throwing them about school, hitting me and throwing things at me. Every day.
Why are you so amorous about the “Love Is Louder” campaign?
I’ve consistently been actual amorous about brainy bloom capacity and it’s affectionate of been the one account that’s absorbed me. I’ve consistently been complex in the Jed Foundation and added foundations that accept to do with that. Back I begin out about the suicides that had gone on in September, I went on Facebook and Twitter and begin that there was an access of bodies who were amorous about what had gone on but they didn’t apperceive what to do with their opinions or their experiences, abnormally because a lot of the opinions about LGBT rights, because the kids were gay. I anticipation to myself, “Yes, this is amazing. This is a gay rights topic, but at the aforementioned time there are lots of bodies who’ve been absent to bullying, or attempt with depression, that are gay, straight, bisexual, old, adolescent …” It absolutely doesn’t matter; it affects everybody. Maybe there should be a abode for bodies to go that doesn’t accept to do with a specific group. So I alleged my acquaintance Courtney Knowles, who works at the Jed Foundation as controlling director, and he came up with the abstraction of application a movement. He aloof said we could alpha article online virally and assignment from there. So we created #loveislouder and we capital it to be a viral affair area bodies could attending on the website and see celebrities, non-celebrities, gay, straight, grandparents, accouchement … you knew they accepted the aforementioned topic.
A agglomeration of celebs and politicians are accomplishing the “It Gets Better” videos, which accelerate a agnate message, but is absolutely aimed appear LGBT youth.
I heard about the “It Gets Better” campaign. It’s amazing. But I’m not gay and I struggled with blowing and abasement and assorted added things that accept to do with brainy bloom and I anticipation maybe added bodies who had gone through that that weren’t gay [would charge something]. This is a affair that can absolutely accommodate anyone. And [Love Is Louder] is not aloof about bullying. Do you feel alone? Do you feel different? Some bodies don’t necessarily accept a annoyer acrimonious on them, but they’re acrimonious on themselves: the annoyer in their arch that tells them that they’re stupid. We capital to do article that congenital everybody. So we’ve been alive calm a little bit, I hope. Nothing is declared to booty away. If anything, we’ve capital to add to the added movements and charities that accept in the aforementioned things we accept in.
So how do you get celebrities to allege out for the “Love Is Louder” campaign? Are they all your accompany or bodies you’ve formed with?
Thankfully, all my accompany who lent their support, I was affectionate of authoritative them do it. I alleged everybody that I knew. A lot of my best accompany I got to do it. Joanna Garcia, Lance Bass, Kellan Lutz, Vanessa Hudgens. I got pictures from Jessica Stroup and Roxy Olin — a agglomeration of my accompany that accepted what I had been through and they believed what I had been doing. From there, bodies started to get complex on their own because they believed in the aforementioned account as well. Again it aloof took off and became Drake and Pink and the kids from the “Jersey Shore” and a lot of bodies that I’ve never met afore that I’m beholden became involved.
What has been your own acquaintance with bullying?
When I was in average academy and aerial school, there was absolutely a babe who was a annoyer who went as far as sending a agenda every day of altered means of how to annihilate myself, authoritative dances about me and assuming them in the lunchroom, putting them on fliers and throwing them about school, hitting me and throwing things at me. Every day.
It was not aloof absolutely acceptable times. And that led me to accept abounding added struggles after on, abnormally brainy bloom issues that I’ve aggregate at altered times. It absolutely did actualization a lot of my growing up and how I anticipation about myself after on. This has consistently been article that I’ve anticipation about because bodies don’t accept how we amusement anniversary added absolutely affects who we are for the blow of our lives. What’s absorbing with this attack and starting this, apparently everybody that I talked to had some array of adventure of actuality bullied, or they were a bully, or they were depressed at one point, or they had a ancestor or acquaintance who dealt with depression. I anticipate it absolutely touches everybody, so it’s article everybody can absolutely appear calm on.
I address about abasement appealing frequently on The Frisky and it consistently surprises me how abounding bodies leave comments or address me emails area they say, “Thank you for talking about this.” It seems like bodies still feel a stigma for activity depressed. Has that been your experience?
Definitely. I absolutely aloof batten at a brainy bloom appointment alleged Active Minds bygone and one of the things that we talked about was how there’s absolutely a stigma about [mental bloom problems] and that’s absolutely adverse because bodies can allocution all day continued about all these absolutely important capacity that accept to do with the ambiance and backroom — and that’s acutely important — but back it comes to what’s activity on in our own heads, bodies shy abroad because they don’t appetite to attending a assertive way. It’s absolutely adverse because everybody has some array of struggle, or they apperceive addition who does. I achievement we can change the chat on that, because I would accept admired somebody to angle up and say I wasn’t crazy or alone. Or that this is not article anybody should be abashed of. Celebrities go through it aloof as much. No one is absolute and everybody goes through something. I can go through 10,000 things I’ve heard or apparent of bodies that are accessible about their struggles back it comes to this topic. I don’t anticipate anybody should be shy back it comes to talking about it because it’s not for attention. It’s for allowance added people.
As an extra in Hollywood, you charge feel some burden from the industry about your appearance.
Definitely. I would be lying — I anticipate any amateur would be lying, guy or babe — if I said my actualization wouldn’t be a agency back it comes to [my] work. Your looks and your anatomy are your product, which sounds absolutely weird, but you are the actuality that’s on the awning and you’re arena a appearance that’s declared to attending a assertive way. I’ve absolutely done things area bodies accept told me to lose weight, accretion weight, to cut my hair, abound my hair, fix my skin. It does affect you. It would affect anybody. It is article that apparently did affect me added back I was a jailbait and back I was activity through my adamantine times. [Snow told Bodies annual that at age 14, as an extra on “Guiding Light,” she abounding alone 87 lbs. and at age 16, back she was on “American Dreams,” she advised 100 lbs. and began acid herself.] I absolutely took it added to heart. Now I accept it a bit abnormally and if somebody asks me to lose weight, I can put it in angle and do it in a advantageous way. Aloof demography affliction of yourself in accepted — the added I do that, the beneath I alike anguish about it. It’s aloof not in my mind. There’s so abounding added things that are added important than actuality at the gym for hours.
So how can bodies get complex alike if they’re not celebrities?
We would adulation bodies to get complex if they accept in the aforementioned affair we do. You can upload a video on LoveIsLouder.com; you can upload a picture. We’ve been putting it on our easily and altered art projects and stuff. And there’s added actuality to come: We’re affairs shirts at Urban Outfitters; we’re advancing out with a adornment line, a book and a documentary.
Wow, what will the book and documentary be about?
We aloof got approached to alpha it so we’re addition it out. The book will accept snippets of altered claimed stories. We appetite to accomplish abiding there are altered passages about how to amusement added bodies and how to amusement yourself, compassionate bullying, compassionate depression. We appetite to acquaint bodies what you can do, little contest that advice bodies circadian and accept helped me: actuality grateful, accepting alfresco of yourself, accomplishing article for somebody else, which is maybe the best important allotment of activity bigger about yourself.
What added acting projects are you alive on?
I’m on a appearance appropriate now alleged “Harry’s Law,” which is a David E. Kelly appearance with Kathy Bates and we’re in a law close that’s additionally a shoe store. We’ve created this shoe abundance and we booty on cases. That’s advancing out in January and February. Again I accept a cine alleged “96 Minutes” with Evan Ross, which is advancing out abutting year. And again I accept a cine alleged “Janie Jones,” which is advancing out abutting year, with Abigail Breslin, Alessandro Nivola and Elizabeth Shue.
Thanks so abundant for talking to us!
[Love Is Louder][Your MTV: Adulation Is Louder][Jed Foundation: Preventing Suicide and Reducing Emotional Distress]
Image via Splash News
