Amy Schumer Promotes 'I Feel Pretty,' Body Positivity and Beyoncé

Hamptons regular Amy Schumer has been making the rounds to discuss and promote her recently released comedy I Feel Pretty, and she had East Hampton’s Beyoncé to thank for helping her get into character.

In the film, Schumer portrays Renee Bennett, an insecure working girl battling her low self-esteem and negative body image, who hits her head and wakes up thinking she’s the most beautiful woman on the planet. In order to convincingly portray both high and low confidence levels, Schumer turned to music, telling Washington D.C. radio station WTOP, “I listened to a lot of Beyoncé for one, then a lot of Nick Drake for the other. I’d just think about the moments in my life where I felt the most insecure or a comment somebody said when I was a kid that just took me down. But on the other end of that spectrum, just Beyoncé.”

In an interview with Australian Best Weekend Magazine, Schumer emphasized the message of the film saying that every woman should, “get out of your own way and realize that what you look like isn’t who you are. You have a voice and all of this potential; it’s really your responsibility to live up to it and love yourself like your own mother.”

To this point, she refused to be digitally retouched in post-production, admitting how great it feels to let viewers see her genuine self, “cellulite,” “rolls” and all. She added, “We want women to feel empowered, we don’t want anything to hold them back. If you feel someone is going to insult you, call you ugly or fat, it holds you back. I don’t want anything to keep women from their full potential.”

Despite the harsh backlash and fat-shaming accusations from critics, with a Rotten Tomatoes score of 35%, Schumer continues to stand by her film, asserting that the moral of the story is body positivity, “I want other women, other people to feel good about themselves. And I think walking out of this movie, you really do.” Watch the trailer below.