VIDEO – “The piano was wonderful because it hid me.” Alice Taglioni talks about fatphobia and how music “saved” her.

Sonia Devillers' guest in The Grand Portrait On France Inter, Alice Taglioni discussed her relationship with her body, the remarks she endured when she was younger, and the role of the piano in her life. The actress explained that she had long sought to protect herself from the gaze of others.

"JI was curvy, I was 1.79m tall, I was visible.« 

Alice Taglioni was a guest on France Inter in The Grand PortraitIn an interview with Sonia Devillers, the actress revisited a period when she said she wasn't comfortable with her body: « When I say I wasn't comfortable in my body, I wasn't the only one who knew it. I faced... Now, we call it fatphobia. »

When asked about her experience, Alice Taglioni described a feeling of exposure linked to her physical appearance: « Yes, I was curvy, I was 1.79m tall, I was noticeable. In fact, let me tell you, I had curves, breasts, hips… I was too noticeable. That's exactly it. »

She then explained that she had been looking for a way to distance herself from the gaze of others. According to her, this role was played by the piano: "You have to find a way to hide. And the piano was wonderful, because it hid me."

« The need to be loved« 

Sonia Devillers responded to the actress, who nevertheless chose a high-profile career. "under the gaze of others"Alice Taglioni explained this paradox by the need to be recognized in a different way: "The need to be loved, obviously. To be seen for who I was."

The actress also recounts how cinema changed her view of herself. She remembers the first time someone told her she was pretty, and her reaction upon seeing herself on screen: “The first time someone told me I was pretty and I saw myself on screen, I thought, ‘This can’t be happening!’” She explains that this filmed image allowed her to perceive herself differently: "And actually, I saw myself on the screen and I saw myself differently. I looked at someone who was in front of me, on a screen. It wasn't me in front of the mirror at all, it has nothing to do with it."

Watch an excerpt from Alice Taglioni's interview on France Inter: