Lisa in OK! Magazine transcript
Lisa Edelstein in OK! Magazine
[issue #36; Sept 2006; cover: j-lo to be a mom]
Fashion House -- After conquering a serious medical problem, the star of one of the hottest shows on TV explains how she stays healthy and trades in her lab coat for some flirty frocks.
Watching a giggling Lisa Edelstein dancing around at the OK! photo shoot in California's Pacific Palisades, it's hard to imagine that there was once a time when she had so much back pain that she could not lift her head.
In her mid-twenties, just as her acting career was taking off, Lisa was told by doctors that the discs in her neck were "going like dominoes" and had the first of what she was told would be many high-risk operations. Already grappling with having become "way too skinny" from crash dieting, it could have been the end of her career.
The beautiful actress, who plays hospital administrator Dr. Lisa Cuddy on Fox's hit medical drama House, reveals how she overcame what doctors called the impossible and got to where she is today.
What caused your extreme diet?
I gained weight as a teen because I hit puberty late. Then in my 20s I got way, way too skinny. I realized that I was responsible for myself, nobody else was, and how I felt, looked and lived was all down to me. I quit smoking and started eating well.
What advice do you have for extreme dieters?
You can't live on diets. You have to have a daily relationship with food. You have to dis-empower food so it isn't a reward, punishment or treat.
Explain the problems you had with your back.
It was horrifying. I had an emergency spinal fusion, and the doctor told me I would have to keep having them. Three years later, I was running four miles every other day but then my neck went out again. I had to go back to the doctor, who said, "Your discs are going to go like dominoes." At this point I was disabled. I couldn't lift my head or straighten my arms. I have overcome something that I was told was impossible to overcome and that is an amazing power to have.
How were you cured?
I started doing Bikram yoga seven days a week and I read a book called Healing Back Pain by Dr. John E. Sarno. Within three months of doing yoga seven days a week, I was pain-free. I haven't had a neck or back problem since.
What is your current fitness regime?
I wake up and do Ashtanga yoga for two hours a day, six days a week. It makes you very fit but it's also a concentration exercise. People who are drawn to Ashtanga yoga are perfectionists and obsessive compulsive [laughs].
Are you obsessive compulsive?
I've had my moments!
What do you eat on a typical day?
In the morning after yoga, I have some yogurt, then a coffee later on. I have one bigger meal, either in the middle of the day or the evening. I make a lot of vegetable sautes with tempeh for protein, and I'll have a salad at some point. There are moments, though, when I eat to entertain myself. I eat pasta or pizza, on occasion. I eat chocolate every day.
The Hollywood machine is very much geared to being extremely thin. Is that hard?
Yes, it's hard. Plus, you look bigger on television. When people meet me they think I look really small and ask me if I've lost a lot of weight -- I had body dismorphia. I sit in front of the mirror and I cannot look. It's hard when you get older and you have lines, and things are moving to other places [laughs].
Would you consider botox?
No. My face is part of what I use for my job. You can see botox in movies, when women look like somebody smacked them in teh forehead and they're frozen in that expression.
When you last spoke to OK! you were single - what's happening now?
I'm dating! Let's see what happens.
What about having kids?
I would love to have a child. Actually, that wouldn't freak this guy out at all. I've known him for years.
Do you think Dr. Cuddy and House could ever get together?
I would love to see that, but I'm not sure it would work.
How about if they got drunk at a party?
Everybody says that! [laughs] it would be less interesting if they were drunk - it wouldn't count.
Do you hang out together off set?
No. On the weekends everybody wants to experience something else. The hours are nutty, but we keep going because it could pay our bills for the next ten years.
Do you play pranks on set?
There's no time for pranks. I hate jokes! I went on a date once with a guy who just kept telling jokes. Finally, I said, "I'm sorry, but I really hate jokes." He said, "What are we supposed to talk about?" [laughs] That was funny, so I laughed.
Interview by ruth hilton ; photography by giuliano bekor for art house management ; fashion styling by joe tierney for fred segal beauty ; hair by clyde haygood for fred segal beauty/l'oreal professionnel ; makeup by geoffrey rodriquez for guerlain celstineagency.com
house airs on tuesdays at 8 pm on fox
if you suffer from extreme dieting, visit edap.org
Every time I read something by her, or watch an interview, I love her even more. I wasn't really aware that was possible.