Susan Sarandon Says She Lost Weight for Stepmom Movie — but Scheduled Scenes So She Could Eat Again Over the Holidays 

Susan Sarandon revealed how she lost weight for the movie Stepmom — and that she made sure to schedule filming around the holidays because she “wanted to be able to eat.”

The actress appeared on the May 21 episode of the Podcrushed podcast, where she discussed her experience both starring in and producing the 1998 drama. During the conversation, Sarandon, 78, recalled how she lost weight in order to play the character Jackie Harrison, a woman diagnosed with terminal cancer.

“I had to lose so much weight, so I was always walking in my trailer,” she recalled. “And I wanted to lose it before Christmas, because we were going away to Morocco and I wanted to be able to eat.“

“So [that’s] the nice thing about being the producer,” she added. “You can schedule your death … So we did it before the Christmas break so I could eat while we were gone.”

Sarandon also revealed that, as producer, she oversaw many of the film’s major creative decisions, noting that she wanted to be sure the movie captured the emotional realities of a family coping with a cancer diagnosis.

“I had a friend whose wife had died, leaving him with two small children. And it was a slow death … so I talked to him about the fears that the kids had. I talked to the kids,” she recalled.

She also shared that she opted to hire the director Chris Columbus — who worked on Home Alone and Mrs. Doubtfire —  because she wanted the actors who played her children to feel comfortable on set.

“Chris Columbus came in, and I wanted him because I knew that he would be good with kids. And I wanted those kids to feel safe. I’m still in touch with both of them,” she said, referring to actors Jena Malone and Liam Aiken.

The Oscar winner also noted that the film hit close to home for her as a mother, saying that it touches on “all your fears” as a parent.

“When I had my first child — which was very late because I never even thought about doing that — everyone says, ‘Oh, life, you know, comes in.’ But I really found death came in. I never thought about death [before having kids],” she said

“I’d never thought about how long I needed to live or, you know, being safe in a house where you’re by yourself. [Thinking] ‘Where are the windows? Where are the doors? What’s if there’s a fire?’ “ she continued.