ShareThisBy TERRY MORROW
Rosie O'Donnell's own body issues came up when she was asked to do a guest stint on "Nip/Tuck."
"I was concerned about being naked," she says in her trailer during a break from shooting. "I have a love scene, but I'm covered up. I'm a size 16. I usually go from size 16 to 22. When I am 16, I am happy with myself."
In recent years, O'Donnell has become more outspoken, but she freely admits she still has body issues. On the Oct. 4 episode of FX's "Nip/Tuck," she plays a lottery winner who thinks money can buy away her issues.
She gets a complete makeover _ her breasts, her face, her backside. It's nipped, tucked and sucked. She also buys a breast job for her daughter and a penis enlargement for her husband.
To do the role, O'Donnell was padded, had a farmer's tan applied by the show's makeup crew and her shiny hair lost its sheen. The role is mainly played for laughs.
Her love scenes have her wrapped in a sheet, with co-star Julian McMahon, naked in real life, on top of her.
With the surgery, O'Donnell's character goes from a "white trash" frumpy to something out of "Dynasty."
In real life, though, O'Donnell says she is leery of plastic surgery, especially for actresses wanting a more youthful appearance.
"I think plastic surgery robs an actress of the chance to work later in life," she says. "It takes away your humanity. As an actor, the only thing you have is your face."
O'Donnell says she's had plastic surgery herself. More than 15 years ago, she had work done to reduce a pronounced chin.
"I would never do what I did, again," she says. "First of all, it never works."
She points to her chin, saying she's not completely satisfied with the way it looks now.
Late last spring, O'Donnell's comments about gastric bypass surgery made national headlines. She took Star Jones to task because Jones didn't readily attribute her own weight loss to surgery.
O'Donnell says she has no problem with the procedure.
"When you consult with your doctor and it is a viable option for you, I think it is a viable procedure for people who are in that situation," she says. "You hear about people who are 500 pounds and cannot get out of bed.
"Obviously there is some sort of valve that is not shutting off inside the brain. I have had three friends who have had (the procedure) and it saved their lives.
"I am not opposed to it. I think if you are having it done and you are in the public eye it should be something you speak about. It's not my goal in life to 'out' people who have had it done, though."
To create the illusion of a thinner O'Donnell for "Nip/Tuck," she was fitted for a corset. "It went from my knees to right under my breasts," she says. "It took me 40 minutes to put it on.
"I had to wiggle and wiggle and push it up. As a heavy person, I have worn this kind of thing before. It's not the kind of thing you want to wear eight hours a day."
O'Donnell wanted to do "Nip/Tuck" after getting wrapped up in the show last year. Creator Ryan Murphy dreamed up the role for her.
"As an artist, you do what inspires you," she says, "and this show inspires me. It's been a long time since I have watched a show and was so riveted and moved."
