Orange is the New Black actress Adrienne C. Moore, who plays Black Cindy, recently discussed how the show has helped her deal with her own self-image issues and overcome body shame.

At a recent panel for Straight/Curve, a new film on the depiction of women’s bodies in culture, Moore discussed the first time she had to appear in a bra and underwear for OITNB. She said,

“I was so nervous to film that scene, and I wasn’t even naked. We have several scenes with nudity in it, and I was just in a bra and panties. But I was so mortified about my size G/H breasts and my rolls, and being on TV and what people would say about my body.”

She was so self-conscious that she tried to convince the costume designer to adjust the outfit.

“I wanted the panties to come up past my belly button. I wanted every roll as covered up as possible. I remember when I walked on the set, I was asking the producer, ‘Can we get a clothed rehearsal? Can we do this thing?’”

But once the camera started rolling and she got into “Cindy zone” she forgot all her worries.

“By the end of the day, I was just walking around the set in my panties, like, ‘Are we ready to go to set? Are we doing this thing?’”

Since then, she’s become more and more comfortable with her body, both on and off screen.

“Moving forward, I got to a place where I was like, ‘You know what? This is just my body’ and I don’t feel like we have really represented this from a main cast member. By the end of the day, I felt very empowered by that moment.”

That’s awesome! A lot of times, the media can bring out the worst in a woman’s body image, so it’s pretty amazing that it had the opposite effect on Adrienne.

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