The 66-year-old has long been critical of plastic surgery, especially given her own experiences. When she was 25, the actor underwent surgery after a cinematographer called her eyes “baggy.” She has since said that she “regretted it immediately” and that she developed a dependence on painkillers following the surgery (she is now sober).
In a new interview with the Guardian, Jamie posed with giant, red, plastic lips. As she put it, “The wax lips is my statement against plastic surgery. I’ve been very vocal about the genocide of a generation of women by the cosmeceutical industrial complex, who’ve disfigured themselves. The wax lips really sends it home.”
When asked about her use of the word “genocide,” given its heavy connotations, Jamie replied, “I’ve used that word for a long time and I use it specifically because it’s a strong word. I believe that we have wiped out a generation or two of natural human [appearance]. The concept that you can alter the way you look through chemicals, surgical procedures, fillers – there’s a disfigurement of generations of predominantly women who are altering their appearances.”
“And it is aided and abetted by AI, because now the filter face is what people want. I’m not filtered right now. The minute I lay a filter on and you see the before and after, it’s hard not to go: ‘Oh, well that looks better.’ But what’s better? Better is fake. And there are too many examples – I will not name them – but very recently we have had a big onslaught through media, many of those people,” she added.
Jamie denied that she would personally make younger costars uncomfortable with her take, noting, “I don’t care. It doesn’t matter. I’m not proselytising to them. I would never say a word. I would never say to someone: what have you done? All I know is that it is a never-ending cycle. That, I know. Once you start, you can’t stop. But it’s not my job to give my opinion; it’s none of my business.”
As for when the journalist suggested that Jamie is still a conventionally attractive woman, Jamie replied, “No! No!” She won’t have it. “I feel like you’re trying to say: ‘You’re in some rarefied air, Jamie.’ I’m not!…By the way, genetics – you can’t fuck with genetics. You want to know where my genetics lie?” Gesturing to her arms, she continued, “Are you kidding me? By the way, you’re not going to see a picture of me in a tank top, ever.”
You can read the full interview here.