Debra Messing Says a Hollywood Exec Made Her Wear Fake Breasts

By Kirsten Chuba

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Although Debra Messing has risen to the top of her field as the longtime star of “Will & Grace,” when she first started out in the entertainment business, she was critiqued by a Hollywood executive over her looks.

“I had to wear fake boobs when I first started in Hollywood on my first sitcom,” Messing revealed to Sharon Stone during a recent conversation for Variety’s “Actors on Actors,” presented by Shutterstock. She remembered that producers handed her cutlets to enhance her breast size, which she had never seen before, having recently graduated from acting school at NYU.

After trying them on, Messing told the producers, “‘I look stupid.’ I was like, ‘I’m not going to wear these,’ to which they responded, ‘The president of the network called and said he wants you to wear those.’”

“I was in shock. I was new to the industry and I just thought I can’t say no, you know,” the “Will & Grace” star added. “Now, no one comes at me with those things. I’m like ‘I’m flat-chested, I love it.’”

Stone also discussed times she’s been criticized by Hollywood executives, including when she faced backlash for wearing pants instead of a dress in a film, and another time she was told she wasn’t sitting like a proper woman.

The Emmy Award-winning “ ” series will air in two episodes on PBS SoCal KOCE, the first on Tuesday, June 19 at 7 p.m. and the second on Thursday, June 21 at 7 p.m. Both episodes will stream on pbssocal.org following their premieres.

Watch the full interview below: