It’s hard to believe that the reigning queen of comedy, Amy Schumer, ever struggles with confidence. It seems like she’s always calling out the entertainment industry on its hypocrisy and harsh standards rather than falling victim to it—but in an interview with Maria Shriver on TODAY, she got emotional discussing her own struggle with body image, one of the subjects she most often jokes about during performances.
“It’s been a struggle for me my whole life, and especially just being in the entertainment industry,” she said. “Standing on a stage in front of people, I can’t perform my best or be confident if I’m not sure—if I’m pulling at something [I’m wearing]. And sometimes I would just want to throw in the towel and be like, ‘I’m not gonna go do standup tonight.'”
Schumer met stylist Leesa Evans while on the set of her hit movie Trainwreck, and their relationship changed her entire perspective. “Leesa had given me this gift of showing me how to dress and feel good,” Schumer said with genuine emotion. “And she didn’t have to do this, she just did… And I just wanted to give it to every woman.” Since then, the comedian has been inspired to start an organization called StyleFund, which partners with Goodwill “with the goal of helping women create their individual style to step out into the world with confidence.”
Schumer is not only helping women find their own style, but is fighting back against the ridiculous standards Hollywood and the media enforce, which she does every time she goes onstage. She has a rare gift for addressing any topic with a certain grace and sense of humor, so you can’t help but laugh, no matter how infuriating an issue like unrealistic beauty standards might be. In her interview, she added that her ultimate goal is to “make everybody laugh and feel better, which is my goal across the board with everything.” We’d say that so far we think she’s doing a pretty darn good job.