Barbie Ferriera Says She 'Had to' Become a Body-Positivity Activist as a Teen Model: 'I Was Just a Kid'
Barbie Ferriera Says She 'Had to' Become a Body-Positivity Activist as a Teen Model: 'I Was Just a Kid'
Catherine SantinoWed, April 29, 2026 at 4:56 PM UTC
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Barbie Ferreira.Credit: Michael Tullberg/Getty -
In a new interview with Bustle, Barbie Ferreira said that her career as a model led to her inadvertently becoming a body-positivity activist
"I’d put on a bikini for a campaign, everyone would get mad, and suddenly I was an activist," the Euphoria alum shared
Ferreira also reflected on the reaction to her recent weight loss
Barbie Ferreira said she felt she "had to" become a body-positivity activist as a curve model.
The 29-year-old actress, who got her start appearing in campaigns for brands like American Apparel, told Bustle that her weight has been a topic of discussion since she started her career in her teens.
"Back then, I spoke a lot about body positivity because I had to," Ferreira said in an interview published on Wednesday, April 29. "People asked me about my activism when I was just a kid. I didn’t even know what activism meant. I’d put on a bikini for a campaign, everyone would get mad, and suddenly I was an activist."
She continued, "I’m 17 years old thinking, 'Sure, I’ll be an activist if that’s what you want.' But I don’t think that’s what true activism is. Real activism is dedicating your life to a cause. I just believe people should be reflected in the media as they are. My career continues to do that."
The Euphoria alum also reflected on the reaction to her body changing over the years.
Barbie Ferreira at the premiere of 'Euphoria' in 2019.Credit: Gregg DeGuire/FilmMagic
"I started modeling at 16, and I’ve looked different every year for over a decade," she said. "It’s very trendy right now to talk about women’s bodies, which is exactly why I personally don’t talk about it. There is so much discourse around what I look like — and what other women look like — all the time."
"As women, we are in a losing game. If we’re too small or too big, we lose," added Ferreira. "We are human beings who fluctuate. I gain weight, I lose weight; that’s just my life. I didn’t realize people would be so hyper-fixated on it.
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Barbie Ferreira.Credit: Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty
The actress showed off her figure at the Academy Women’s Luncheon in November 2025, where she wore a tight, ruched hot-pink dress. The appearance came just a few weeks after Ferreira made her Victoria's Secret Fashion Show Debut in a scarlet two-piece outfit, something she called a “crazy side quest” on Instagram.
The Bob Trevino Likes It star has neither shared a specific fitness or diet plan nor responded to rumors that she’s been taking a GLP-1 . She has, however, been vocal about self-image and the body-positivity movement in the past: "I think bigger bodies are not as 'trendy' as they used to be, which is really sad to me. But it's more of a conversation of the fact that we all struggle with self-love, and I don't think any young person has really figured it out yet," she said in a 2022 interview.
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Although she left Euphoria after season 2, Ferreira previously shared her career goals with PEOPLE, explaining, “I knew what I wanted from a very young age.”
“I didn’t grow up in a Hollywood family by any means or anything like that, so for me, I just had no plan B," she told PEOPLE. “I’m just like a go-getter in this way where I really try. If I want to do something, I will try my hardest to make it happen and continue doing it."
Ferreira most recently starred in Faces of Death, a reimagining of the 1978 mockumentary, alongside Dacre Montgomery, Josie Totah and Charli XCX.
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
