Ever wonder why some actresses suddenly show up to award shows all thin and sickly? (Besides for the obvious reasons, we mean.) Well, it's kind of like when guys show up with facial hair, looking inappropriately scrubby and explain that it's for a movie role: Studios sometimes ask actresses lose weight when they don't need to. (Shocker.) Take 25-year-old Hayley Atwell, whom Miramax executives told to slim down for her role in the forthcoming film Brideshead Revisited. Thanks to co-star Emma Thompson, the studio relinquished the weight-loss demand, according to First Post:

Says Atwell: "I went round to Emma's one night and she was getting very angry that I wasn't eating all the food she was giving me. I told her why and she hit the roof." The no-nonsense Thompson was so outraged that she called the producers the next day and threatened to resign from the film if they forced Atwell to lose weight. Faced with Thompson — a two-times Oscar winner — on the warpath, Miramax Films swiftly relented.

We'd also be irritated if someone came over to eat and then just stared at her food, especially when she's already thin and good-looking. It's sad younger stars don't have enough pull or forethought to get out of these kinds of demands on their own. But we love that Thompson took such a strong stand; perhaps she can start a young-actress adoption program of sorts? Anyhow, we're going to go get some hot chocolate now. And a cookie.

Brit actress saved by outraged Emma [First Post]