Reid Ewing, who plays Dylan, the fun-loving, gormless, and easy breezy on-off boyfriend of Haley Dunphy in Modern Family has made the brave decision to publicly discuss his body dysmorphia issues in a blog with The Huffington Post.
Ewing, who's played Dylan for six years, had his first surgery back in 2008 - cheek implants. Of the experience, the 27-year-old said, "I genuinely believed if I had one procedure I would suddenly look like Brad Pitt." Things, however, are never that easy. After wearing a facial mask for two weeks, "The results were horrendous" and "nothing like" what he had expected.
Despite this, he went on to have a chin implant. Again, the results were dubious, "Only a few days passed when I noticed I could move the chin implant under my skin, easily moving it from one side of my face to another. I rushed back to the surgeon, and acknowledging he had made a mistake, he operated on me again."
The actor added, "For the next couple of years, I would get several more procedures with two other doctors. Each procedure would cause a new problem that I would have to fix with another procedure. Much of this was going on during the same time period I was shooting Modern Family. Most of the times I was on camera were when I'd had the numerous implants removed and was experimenting with less-noticeable changes to my face, like injectable fillers and fat transfers. None of them last very long or are worth the money."
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Speaking of money, Ewing reportedly financed all his surgeries with money earned via Modern Family and - when he "was most desperate" - he borrowed money from "his parents and grandmother."
As for his decision to speak out about his dysmorphia, he was motivated after seeing the doctor who carried out his first procedure offering plastic surgery tips via a magazine. In a heartfelt conclusion, Ewing states, "Before seeking to change your face, you should question whether it is your mind that needs fixing. Of the four doctors who worked on me, not one had mental health screenings in place for their patients, except for asking if I had a history of depression, which I said I did, and that was that. My history with eating disorders and the cases of obsessive compulsive disorder in my family never came up. None of the doctors suggested I consult a psychologist for what was clearly a psychological issue rather than a cosmetic one or warn me about the potential for addiction."
While Ewing has come out the other side, he wishes he could undo all the surgeries "... I can now see I was fine to begin with and didn't need the surgeries after all." He does acknowledge that it has its place, but "it's a horrible hobby."
Good on Reid for speaking out. Hopefully some good can come out of his sad experience.
