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Rachel Brosnahan suffered 'corset-related injury' from Marvelous Mrs Maisel costumes

'I can't take super-deep breaths anymore', says actor

Sarah Young
Wednesday 15 January 2020 11:51 GMT
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Rachel Brosnahan says she got a 'corset-related injury' from her Marvelous Mrs Maisel costumes

Rachel Brosnahan has revealed that the costumes she wears on The Marvelous Mrs Maisel have given her a “corset-related injury”.

The 29-year-old actor stars as the lead character, Midge Maisel – an American housewife who embarks on a career as a stand-up comedian – in the period drama.

As the show is set in the 1950s, Brosnahan and her co-stars are required to wear costumes that reflect the fashion of the time, sporting everything from glamorous gowns and cigarette trousers to satin elbow-length gloves.

But, there is one element of her character’s wardrobe that Brosnahan has struggled to get on board with.

During an appearance on the The Late Late Show with James Corden and fellow-guest Ru Paul, Brosnahan explained that she suffered an injury after wearing a corset in most scenes on the Amazon comedy.

“I actually got kind of a corset-related injury,” she said.

“We talk so fast on the show that to get all the words out you can't really take very many breaths. I think I wasn't breathing a lot and I was a bit constrained and apparently some of my ribs are sort of fused together.”

The actor went on to reveal that the damage means she “can't take super-deep breaths anymore”, prompting Ru Paul to gasp: “Oh my goodness”.

Brosnahan reassured the Drag Race host that she is in good health despite the injury, adding: “It’s really fine guys. Champagne problems."

The House of Cards actor isn’t the first Hollywood star to publicly discuss the struggles of having to wear a corset.

In 2018, Emma Stone opened up about what it was like to wear a corset for her appearance in The Favourite, which is set in early 18th-century England.

“Women existed like that for such a long time, which gives you a lot of sympathy for that time period and what they were going through,” Stone said on the Graham Norton Show.

“For the first month, I couldn’t breathe,” she added.

“After a month, all my organs shifted, it was gross and if you don’t have to, don’t do it.”

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Similarly, Kim Kardashian West said that her custom-made Thierry Mugler “dripping wet” dress for the 2019 Met Gala left her in pain because of the corset she had to wear underneath.

“I have never felt pain like that in my life,” Kardashian West told the WSJ Magazine.

The custom corset, which was created by acclaimed French couturier Mister Pearl, was tied so tightly around her frame that Kardashian West was left with markings on her body after she removed the piece at the end of the night.

It also took three assistants to strap her into the corset and she had to have special breathing lessons from Mister Pearl before wearing it to the Met Gala.

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