Joely Richardson Struggled With Her Looks During Her Youth

Joely Richardson claims she was "never beautiful" in her youth. The 43-year-old 'Nip/Tuck' star claims she was late hitting her "prime" after spending years struggling with "bad skin."

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She said: "I was never beautiful in my 20s but if you're in your prime at 22 then perhaps that's something you want to hold on to as long as possible."

"In my early 30s I really struggled with my skin. I remember working on the film 'Event Horizon' in 1997, when my skin was particularly bad. I was telling one of the other actresses how I went to a wonderful dermatologist who does amazing facials and I could see her thinking, 'I'm not going to her facialist!'"

Joely - who was pictured looking thin and gaunt in October - also hit back at claims she was suffering from an eating disorder. She told Britain's Easy Living magazine: "It was inferred I had done something crazy to look like that, and what was even more upsetting was the idea that it was some sort of illness, like anorexia or bulimia."

"The truth was that I'd had a hernia operation, which had quite a long recovery period, coupled with really bad flu, so I probably did lose about 10 pounds."

"That really bothered me because the whole weight issue is truly nonsensical. There was an inference that in Hollywood skinniness equates to success, and it's complete rubbish. Look at a lot of those top girls - Jennifer Lopez, Salma Hayek, Julia Roberts - they are exactly the right body size."