Alicia Silverstone admits that she "stopped loving acting" after making Batman & Robin. The young actress played Batgirl in the 1997 movie, alongside George Clooney, Uma Thurman, and Chris O'Donnell. "That definitely wasn't my favorite film-making experience," says Silverstone when reflecting on the production and its aftermath. The actress went on to earn a Razzie for Worst Supporting Actress and critics in the press started calling her "Fatgirl," which was after the body shaming that she had already went through during the making of the movie.
The body shaming that occurred after the release of Batman & Robin took its toll on Alicia Silverstone. However, she says that it never really got to her when it was happening. She would take it in stride when an interviewer would as about her weight or her cup size. She had this to say when asked about the whole situation.
"They would make fun of my body when I was younger. It was hurtful but I knew they were wrong. I wasn't confused. I knew that it was not right to make fun of someone's body shape, that doesn't seem like the right thing to be doing to a human."
Alicia Silverstone still looks back at some elements of working on Batman & Robin fondly, like getting to work with Michael Gough and performing fight scenes with Uma Thurman. She even joked that she'd like to play the part again with all of the wisdom she has collected over the years. With that being said, she did not feel that way when the movie was finished. Silverstone explains.
"There were working circumstances that were less than favorable in terms of how things went down. And no, I didn't say 'f*** you' and come out like a warrior but I would just walk away and go, OK I know what that is and I'm done, I'm not going near that again... I stopped loving acting for a very long time."
As for what made Alicia Silverstone fall in love with acting again, it was a role in a David Mamet play. "My body was just like, this is what I'm meant to do, I love it so much, I need to find a way to do both, to be able to be an actress and be an activist at the same time so that's what I did," she says. From there on out, she decided to take the advice of her agent and only take the projects that she felt were "earth-shaking" on a personal level.
Alicia Silverstone does what she wants these days. She takes on whatever acting roles she wants and puts out vegan cookbooks while fighting for her beliefs. As for Batman & Robin, it is regarded as the worst of the Batman movies. On the eve of the 20 anniversary in 2017, director Joel Schumacher officially apologized for making it and disappointing fans from all over the world. Silverstone still found a way to come out on top. The interview with Silverstone was originally conducted by The Guardian.