“I locked myself in prison and had no idea that only I had the keys to it,” says actor Dan Krejčík. Because of the role, he began to lose weight. But when he wanted to return to normal, he found that it was not possible. “At first I respected him to lose weight in the role, but once I saw him get out of the tub, it was scary. I told him that it was too much for him to recover, “describes Daniel’s partner Matěj Stropnický. The third part of Edge captures the story of a couple who was coping with anorexia nervosa.
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Dan has been fighting with his body since childhood. He was struggling with gynecomastia – so one of his mammary glands was enlarged. “It looked like I had number one breasts. At that time, I was terribly ashamed of my body. ”In response, he deliberately gained weight so that his anomaly would disappear. Later, when he underwent surgery and the enlarged mammary gland was removed, he began to lose weight. But he never got where he imagined.
The turning point came two years ago. Dan then got the lead role in the performance Danish Girl at the Fidlovačka Theater, directed by Jakub Čermák. “He told me I needed to be completely naked in several places. And that it’s important for me to be fine with my body. But I wasn’t comfortable with my body! ”Recalls Dan.
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In two and a half months of demanding rehearsals, the then slender actor lost 18 kilos. “And I did it in the worst possible style – I just didn’t eat. It’s pretty scary how easy it is. ”Dan finally managed to recover from anorexia nervosa. However, he admits that he fights with his body to this day and bears the displeasure that he has regained his weight. Although the brain knows it’s right.
“I knew he wanted to lose weight in that role, but at some point it got out of hand,” says Dan’s partner and well-known politician Matěj Stropnický, with whom he lives at a castle in Osečany in Central Bohemia. Matěj was not the only one who noticed that Dan was getting beyond the edge of healthy functioning.
Fellow actors, who went to see director Jakub Čermák with apprehension, were also worried. In retrospect, he regrets that he did not intervene: “I haven’t seen it in a long time. We were full of that show, we both experienced it terribly. In retrospect, I’m ashamed of it, “he admits.
How can an eating disorder translate into partnerships? What warning signs to watch out for and how can you help? And why are ambitions and work stress risky for people with problematic relationships to their own bodies? Listen to the third part of the podcast series Edge.
Hrana is a five-part documentary podcast series by Lukáš Houdek. It conveys the stories of men who, due to their desire for a dream character, are fighting with their own bodies. Together with experts, he thinks about what shapes today’s ideas about the ideal body. And why obsessive exercise, weight monitoring, and eating disorders are taboo topics in men. Listen on wave.cz/hrana, in the application mujRozhlas and in others podcast applications.
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Credits:
Author: Lukáš Houdek
Radio Wave playwright: Veronika Ruppert
Creative group playwright Document: Daniel Kupšovský
Sound Master:
Ladislav Reich
Audio collaboration:
Radek Veselý
Music:
Václav Rouček
Visualize: Adam Křena
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Video of Podcast Edge on Radio Wave. Series about male body image
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