Shakira asked for her ‘Zootropolis’ character to be "a little curvier".
The 39-year-old star voices pop singer Gazelle in the upcoming animated movie and asked for her to be redrawn because she felt she was too skinny and not projecting the best image.
She said: "I don’t believe in trying to be super-slim and when I signed on to play Gazelle I looked at the original drawing and said, ‘The first thing you’ve got to do is put some meat on those bones!’
"Because, poor Gazelle, she was too fit for me so I asked them to make her a little curvier and give her bigger hips, and luckily they listened.
"I think it’s important young girls shouldn’t be too influenced by pictures in the media of very slim people, because to tell the truth, a lot of those pictures they see in magazines have been Photoshopped to hell.
"We should all be happy with the bodies we have."
The ‘Hips Don’t Lie’ singer – who has sons Milan, three, and Sasha, 16 months, with partner Gerard Pique – could see a lot of similarities between herself and Gazelle.
She told Britain’s HELLO! magazine: "When they first told me about her, I immediately said, ‘That’s me’.
"But when they told me the plot of the film, and about the main character, who is a little bunny who dreams big dreams, I also said, ‘That’s me too.’
"I remember being a little girl in Colombia dreaming about being an international singing artist – and what were my chances of having that happen?
"But it was my dream and so I fought for it all the way."
Shakira wanted character curves
