Jameela Jamil was told she was 'too fat and old' to move to make it in the US

25 July 2019

Jameela Jamil was told she was "too old" and "fat" to chase her American dream aged 28.

Jameela Jamil

The 33-year-old actress - who has made a name for herself by speaking out issues such as gender inequality and the trend for celebrities promoting weight loss products - has recalled the time she was bodyshamed by someone who advised her against moving to the US because of her ethnicity and weight, but Jameela didn't listen and counts it as one of the "bravest" decisions she's ever made in her life.

She said: "The bravest thing I've done in my life was move to Los Angeles even though I was told I was too old at 28 and too fat. And they said I was too ethnic. Going anyway and not listening to people, recognising that people were projecting their own personal fear onto me, and just getting up and booking a one way ticket and coming to America with no visa - sorry, (President) Trump - no money, really, because I had spent all of it on charity, and I had no contacts, and no friends here. I did it anyway, and I think trying is winning and everything else is just cake and orgasms."

And Jameela's move to the US was inspired by her body "challenging" her and suffering a breast cancer scare at aged 28, which made her compile a bucket list of everything she'd ever "dreamed" of doing.

'The Good Place' W magazine: "Once every decade, my body decides to challenge me. When I was seventeen, I damaged my back very badly in a car accident and that taught me how to respect my body in a way that I'd never done before. When I was twenty-eight, a doctor found a giant lump in my breast and I had a week in which I would find out whether or not it was cancer. And during that week, I made a bucket list and the number one thing on that list was move to California because I'd always dreamed of it. So, when I found out it wasn't cancer, I had to have an operation and six weeks from the operation date you're allowed to fly."

The 'Good Place' star later booked a ticket "six weeks" from the operation to have the lump in her breast removed.

She added: "And so I booked my ticket for exactly six weeks from that day, and I got on a plane on my own. I had no idea what was going to happen here. And I'm not talented at sex, so I couldn't be a porn star. It's just not the thing that's great about me."