Brandon Sklenar Opens Up About His Personal Battle With Body Dysmorphia

Actor Brandon Sklenar is opening up about a personal struggle with body dysmorphia as he begins promoting his upcoming film, Iron Jane, Yahoo reported.

The 36-year-old star, known for his roles in 1923 and It Ends With Us, revealed in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter that he has dealt with body image issues since childhood. He described how early experiences with teasing shaped a lifelong obsession with physical fitness.

Sklenar explained that his journey began when he was a young child. “I was a little kid — short, chunky. I swam in a T-shirt and got made fun of,” he told The Hollywood Reporter.

After a subsequent growth spurt left him feeling lanky, the teasing continued. This cycle led him to begin training intensely to prove himself to others, a drive that eventually transitioned into a psychological obsession.

The actor noted that dysmorphia creates a distorted perception of self. “It becomes a very weird thing, where you see yourself completely differently than pretty much anybody else does, and usually in not a good way,” Sklenar said, according to Yahoo.

Brandon Sklenar — Photo: The Hollywood Reporter

Even with his professional success and physical transformation, the mental struggle persists. Sklenar told The Hollywood Reporter that while therapy has been helpful, the feeling of inadequacy remains an “ongoing process.”

He shared a poignant reflection on his current self-image: “If you look at me now as a 36-year-old man, you’d never guess it, but I still very much feel like that 12-year-old chunky kid — that sense of nothing is ever good enough.”

This internal conflict mirrors the themes of Iron Jane. In the film, Sklenar plays a coach to a rising bodybuilder played by Eiza González. According to The Hollywood Reporter, González’s character experiences a fracturing grip on reality as her identity dissolves into the version of herself demanded by the world and her coach.

Sklenar noted that the film’s focus on body image is a necessary conversation in the current era of fitness influencers and social media. He worked closely with writer-director Lissette Feliciano to ensure his character, Josh, accurately reflected the realities of dysmorphia.

Filming scenes that required physical vulnerability proved difficult for the actor.

Sklenar expressed being “so nervous” during a sequence that required his whole body to be “fully on display” in a specific pose. “Dealing with my issues, it was very challenging to work through that,” he said.

He noted that he thought about González during the process because “every scene is about her body on some level.” He added, “So, I was like, ‘Goddamn, if I feel this way, I can’t imagine how she feels.'”

The Hollywood Reporter noted his involvement in several projects, including the Lionsgate thriller The Housemaid and the upcoming thriller F.A.S.T., scripted by Taylor Sheridan.

While Iron Jane does not yet have an official release date, Sklenar is set to appear in the movie The Rescue, which hits theaters Jan. 29. He is also working on additional photography for that project.

Sklenar emphasized the importance of internal monitoring, stating that managing self-talk is the beginning and end of coping with these feelings, though he admitted it is “easier said than done.”