Photo: HBOThe Gilded Agestar Louisa Jacobson says the tight corsets she wore in the period drama took a toll on both her mind and body.Jacobson, who is the daughter ofMeryl Streep, opened up about her role on the hit HBO series while appearing on Tuesday’s episode of theReign with Josh Smithpodcast.To accurately portray the time period captured inThe Gilded Age— which takes place in the late 1800s — Jacobson, 30, wore a corset to play her character, aspiring writer Marian Brook. WhileThe Gilded Agewas set to film during the pandemic, Jacobson said production was halted due to COVID-19 and resumed in the fall.“It took a long time to get used to that corset after wearing sweatpants for so long,” she told podcast host Josh Smith.Randy Holmes/ABC via GettyNever miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.“Every day when I took it off, I was so grateful and I will never take for granted being a female-identifying person in 2022, who does have the freedom to put on a pair of pants that are kind of loose and call it a day,” Jacobson explained. “The things women had to do — the corset was crazy.“The actress told Smith wearing a corset made her realize “how I’ve internalized beauty standards so intensely.““You’ve seenCinderella, you’ve seen any Disney movie. Have you seenFrozen? Their waists are like the size of my finger,” she said. “All the main princess characters just have these tiny little waists and you grow up seeing that. I walked on set and I was like, in my fittings too, I was like, ‘Just tighten it. I wanna look snatched.’ “While she initially requested an especially tight corset, Jacobson came to regret her choice.“I really suffered from that decision because they measured and sewed all my costumes based on how tight my corset was in the fitting when I had been really ambitious about making it very tight,” she told Smith.Eventually, Jacobson chose to alter her dresses so she could be more comfortable. She explained that about three or four months into filming, she asked the costume designers to take out her dresses in the waist “because it was just too much.““It was taxing physically and mentally, I couldn’t sleep on my side for a long time because my ribs were so sore,” she said. “That’s when I realized I really need to loosen this up. After every take or between setups, I would ask my dresser to untie the corset so that I could get a break. They were called corset breaks.“While filmingThe Gilded Age, Jacobson said she would be on set for 15 hours in a day.“To have that [the corset] on for that long is bananas and the women back then actually in the Gilded age, they would change their clothes three or four times a day, and someone on set assumed that was because they needed breaks from wearing these corsets, and they wore them tighter than we do,” she said.Despite the discomfort, Jacobson said the physical restriction of the corset helped her embody her character.“It contributed to my character, Marian. Marian wants to break down, or break through these boundaries a little bit, and I think that feeling of constriction, wanting to break free, was a very useful tool for me to get into her character and her space,” she explained.The Gilded Ageis now streaming on HBO Max.
Photo: HBO
The Gilded Agestar Louisa Jacobson says the tight corsets she wore in the period drama took a toll on both her mind and body.Jacobson, who is the daughter ofMeryl Streep, opened up about her role on the hit HBO series while appearing on Tuesday’s episode of theReign with Josh Smithpodcast.To accurately portray the time period captured inThe Gilded Age— which takes place in the late 1800s — Jacobson, 30, wore a corset to play her character, aspiring writer Marian Brook. WhileThe Gilded Agewas set to film during the pandemic, Jacobson said production was halted due to COVID-19 and resumed in the fall.“It took a long time to get used to that corset after wearing sweatpants for so long,” she told podcast host Josh Smith.Randy Holmes/ABC via GettyNever miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.“Every day when I took it off, I was so grateful and I will never take for granted being a female-identifying person in 2022, who does have the freedom to put on a pair of pants that are kind of loose and call it a day,” Jacobson explained. “The things women had to do — the corset was crazy.“The actress told Smith wearing a corset made her realize “how I’ve internalized beauty standards so intensely.““You’ve seenCinderella, you’ve seen any Disney movie. Have you seenFrozen? Their waists are like the size of my finger,” she said. “All the main princess characters just have these tiny little waists and you grow up seeing that. I walked on set and I was like, in my fittings too, I was like, ‘Just tighten it. I wanna look snatched.’ “While she initially requested an especially tight corset, Jacobson came to regret her choice.“I really suffered from that decision because they measured and sewed all my costumes based on how tight my corset was in the fitting when I had been really ambitious about making it very tight,” she told Smith.Eventually, Jacobson chose to alter her dresses so she could be more comfortable. She explained that about three or four months into filming, she asked the costume designers to take out her dresses in the waist “because it was just too much.““It was taxing physically and mentally, I couldn’t sleep on my side for a long time because my ribs were so sore,” she said. “That’s when I realized I really need to loosen this up. After every take or between setups, I would ask my dresser to untie the corset so that I could get a break. They were called corset breaks.“While filmingThe Gilded Age, Jacobson said she would be on set for 15 hours in a day.“To have that [the corset] on for that long is bananas and the women back then actually in the Gilded age, they would change their clothes three or four times a day, and someone on set assumed that was because they needed breaks from wearing these corsets, and they wore them tighter than we do,” she said.Despite the discomfort, Jacobson said the physical restriction of the corset helped her embody her character.“It contributed to my character, Marian. Marian wants to break down, or break through these boundaries a little bit, and I think that feeling of constriction, wanting to break free, was a very useful tool for me to get into her character and her space,” she explained.The Gilded Ageis now streaming on HBO Max.
The Gilded Agestar Louisa Jacobson says the tight corsets she wore in the period drama took a toll on both her mind and body.
Jacobson, who is the daughter ofMeryl Streep, opened up about her role on the hit HBO series while appearing on Tuesday’s episode of theReign with Josh Smithpodcast.
To accurately portray the time period captured inThe Gilded Age— which takes place in the late 1800s — Jacobson, 30, wore a corset to play her character, aspiring writer Marian Brook. WhileThe Gilded Agewas set to film during the pandemic, Jacobson said production was halted due to COVID-19 and resumed in the fall.
“It took a long time to get used to that corset after wearing sweatpants for so long,” she told podcast host Josh Smith.
Randy Holmes/ABC via Getty
Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
“Every day when I took it off, I was so grateful and I will never take for granted being a female-identifying person in 2022, who does have the freedom to put on a pair of pants that are kind of loose and call it a day,” Jacobson explained. “The things women had to do — the corset was crazy.”
The actress told Smith wearing a corset made her realize “how I’ve internalized beauty standards so intensely.”
“You’ve seenCinderella, you’ve seen any Disney movie. Have you seenFrozen? Their waists are like the size of my finger,” she said. “All the main princess characters just have these tiny little waists and you grow up seeing that. I walked on set and I was like, in my fittings too, I was like, ‘Just tighten it. I wanna look snatched.’ "
While she initially requested an especially tight corset, Jacobson came to regret her choice.
“I really suffered from that decision because they measured and sewed all my costumes based on how tight my corset was in the fitting when I had been really ambitious about making it very tight,” she told Smith.
Eventually, Jacobson chose to alter her dresses so she could be more comfortable. She explained that about three or four months into filming, she asked the costume designers to take out her dresses in the waist “because it was just too much.”
“It was taxing physically and mentally, I couldn’t sleep on my side for a long time because my ribs were so sore,” she said. “That’s when I realized I really need to loosen this up. After every take or between setups, I would ask my dresser to untie the corset so that I could get a break. They were called corset breaks.”
While filmingThe Gilded Age, Jacobson said she would be on set for 15 hours in a day.
“To have that [the corset] on for that long is bananas and the women back then actually in the Gilded age, they would change their clothes three or four times a day, and someone on set assumed that was because they needed breaks from wearing these corsets, and they wore them tighter than we do,” she said.
Despite the discomfort, Jacobson said the physical restriction of the corset helped her embody her character.
“It contributed to my character, Marian. Marian wants to break down, or break through these boundaries a little bit, and I think that feeling of constriction, wanting to break free, was a very useful tool for me to get into her character and her space,” she explained.
The Gilded Ageis now streaming on HBO Max.
source: people.com
