MovieChat Forums > Little Miss Sunshine (2006) Discussion > Why was Olive in a fat suit?

Why was Olive in a fat suit?

posted 13 years ago by UltimaGabe
18 replies | jump to latest

I understand that there was the little bit involving the ice cream and it making you fat or whatever, but why did they have the actress playing Olive wearing a fat suit? I feel like it added nothing to the plot and just made her look unnatural. (It's very rare for someone's stomach to be the only part of their body to gain weight- and to me, it just made her look pregnant, which was especially weird.) If the issue of her having gained weight was brought up more than once (or twice, if you include the frozen yogurt bit at the end) then it might have fit a bit more, but I just felt it was completely unnecessary.

[–] sillyhat 10 years ago

I understand the point they were trying to make, but it seemed a little over the top, especially since we're supposed to believe that she actually was the runner-up in the regional pageant in Albuquerque (which qualified her to go to California) - how did she pull that off?

[–] NorthernHippy 10 years ago

I believe her weight was originally intended to be brought up more than twice. In the original script there was a scene at the beauty pageant where two of the contestants mockingly ask Olive if she is on a diet. I can't remember if there was any more references, there might have been. But I do think it originally played a bigger part of the story.

"I won't cry for you, my mascara's too expensive"

[–] stevenackerman69 10 years ago

Probably because the actress playing the role didn't look big enough?

[–] bobcanduit 10 years ago

I agree that the fat suit (and it was a fat suit, a poor one at that), was making a point, but it was a little over the top. I attribute it to comedic license. Surely these clever and talented directors knew what they were doing; the movie was a smash hit and huge moneymaker. So you just have to accept it as is - a little surreal, but that is consistent with the whole movie. It was simply great fun!

[–] rmontro 9 years ago

Maybe they didn't want to get an actual fat girl up there and show her real figure in a comparatively unflattering way to the other girls. This way, with the fat girl, the girl who played Olive can say "Well, I'm not really that homely - it's the fat suit that makes me look out of place here". No one's feelings get hurt!

[–] gottfrid 9 years ago

Probably because Abigail is the cutest thing in this world, so they wanted to make her a little bit worse, because it was important for ther plot, since olive is supposed not to be a beauty queen.

"It doesnt matter what Bram Stoker has told you... dead people don't come back from their graves"

[–] beancrisp (1625) 6 years ago

FACT: Olive was never in a fat suit in the entire movie.