Words: Elle Griffiths

Emma Thompson has revealed she threatened to quit a film while on set after a producer made negative comments about a female co-star’s weight. 

The 57-year-old star told Scandinavian talk show Skavlan that during shooting for Brideshead Revisisted in 2008, she overheard a member of the production team urging an unnamed co-star to lose a few pounds. 

Thompson recalls that she told them to “never” make such demands or she would quit the film entirely.

She said: ''There was a wonderful actress in a film I did called Brideshead Revisited. The producer said to her, 'Will you lose some weight?' And she was absolutely exquisite!”

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“I said to them, 'If you speak to her about this again, on any level, I will leave this picture. You are never to do that.''' 

The Beauty and the Beast star explained she wanted to “make noise” about the issue because it is an “evil” that is causing eating disorders among young actors and the general public.

She asked, rhetorically: “Do you want me to be an actor or a model?” in response to the pressure on Hollywood stars to look a certain way on-screen. 

Explaining her stances she added: “It's evil what's happening and what's going on there, and it's getting worse.

''The anorexia - there's so many kids, girls and boys now, and actresses who are very, very thin into their 30s, who simply don't eat.

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“They don't eat ... Sometimes there are just some subjects that you absolutely have to make noise about because it's so tedious and it's gone on and on.''

Last month, Thompson ruled out reprising her role in the Love Actually sequel because it was “too soon” after the death of her on-screen husband, Alan Rickman.

She told Press Association: "Richard [Curtis] wrote to me and said, 'Darling we can't write anything for you because of Alan,' and I said, 'No of course, it would be sad, too sad'.

Images: Rex Features