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Elisha Cuthbert felt 'pressured' to pose for men's magazines

Elisha Cuthbert felt pressured credit:Bang Showbiz
Elisha Cuthbert felt pressured credit:Bang Showbiz

Elisha Cuthbert felt "pressured" to pose for men's magazines early in her career.

The 39-year-old actress has reflected on her experiences in the early 2000s when she posed for the likes of FHM and Maxim in her 20s to promote her movies, and she didn't feel like she had an "option".

Speaking to Rachel Bilson on the 'Broad Ideas' podcast, she said: "There was really no option back then.

"That’s what the [film] studio wanted you to do... We kinda ended up in a space at the time where that was really happening.

"I mean, Halle Berry was doing it, for God’s sake… Jennifer Aniston was doing it. We were probably too young to be subjected to that, and feeling pressured to do that.”

Elisha admitted she wonders how the photos - which are still available online - will affect her children, both in terms of her style and not knowing how much "airbrushing" was done at the time.

The mum-of-two - who has Zaphire, four, and Fable, six months, with husband Dion Phaneuf - explained: "This is what I have to explain to my kids. This weird, bizarre outfit and hair extensions.

"And you know what’s so crazy? I don’t even know how much of those pictures are even accurate as far as, like, airbrushing…

"I was in my early 20s. I didn’t look bad, but did I look that? I don’t even know if the fantasy’s real.”

Early in her career, Elisha found herself at the top of 'hot lists' published by several men's magazines, as well as being named 'Most Beautiful Woman in Television' by Maxim nine years ago.

Shrugging off the attention, she said: "It’s not like I won an Olympic medal. It was just some list some random magazine decided to create.

"When someone reads my bio, those things come up. They actually don’t mean anything in regards to me as a person or my career.”