The breakthrough she found on set

While filming the dark, body-horror series ‘The Beauty’ from creator Ryan Murphy, Bella Hadid discovered a surprising personal breakthrough. In an interview with Vogue, the 29-year-old supermodel revealed that the project pushed her beyond a lifelong fixation on perfection.

“The entire set taught me how to release control and the obsession with perfectionism,” Hadid said. “My comfort zone is when I’m in control, but I knew I had to get out of my comfort zone, let loose, and let go.”

The series casts Hadid as Ruby, an internationally famous model entangled in a disturbing storyline involving a cosmetic drug. Ironically, portraying a character immersed in beauty culture forced the fashion icon to reevaluate her own relationship with appearance.

“Being beautiful or perfect was the lowest thing on this list at the end of a day on set, and that was a really big learning lesson for me,” she shared. “I will have that for the rest of my life.”

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Although much of the production was filmed separately, Hadid credits her fellow cast members with helping reshape her perspective. Actors including Ashton Kutcher, Anthony Ramos and Jeremy Pope offered encouragement and practical wisdom during the process.

“They were able to just tell me a lot of words of wisdom and explain to me that even being crazy and weird is still positive,” she told People. “And sometimes things are embarrassing and at the end of the day, it’s not embarrassing.”

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Those moments of reassurance became quietly transformative. Hadid said the experience reminded her that identity is fluid, and that embracing different sides of herself is part of growth. “We’re all able to be different versions of ourselves and that’s what was most important for me on this set,” she added.

For someone whose global career has been shaped by image, the realization felt profound. Hadid has spent much of her adult life under the relentless gaze of the fashion industry, where appearance often defines success. Yet the actress-in-training now says that perspective has shifted.

Hidden struggles behind the spotlight:

Hadid’s reflections come amid a broader wave of personal revelations about her past struggles. In recent interviews, she has spoken candidly about years of what she described as invisible suffering, particularly while battling Lyme disease.

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During the height of her health crises, she said she feared becoming irrelevant in an industry that rarely slows down. That fear drove her to accept nearly every opportunity that came her way, convinced that turning down work might make her replaceable.

What helped her survive:

To cope with the emotional toll of fame, depression and anxiety, Hadid created an internal persona she calls “Belinda.” The alter ego allowed her to keep performing professionally even when she felt broken privately.

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According to her own account, mornings could begin with hours of crying, sometimes from 5 to 7 a.m, before she stepped onto a set and switched into the composed, smiling version of herself that the industry expected.

“Belinda” would finish the job, but the emotional cost often left her drained.

Learning boundaries:

Hadid has also opened up about a long struggle with people-pleasing tendencies that blurred the boundaries in her personal relationships. In particularly vulnerable moments, she admitted that the need to satisfy others led her to repeatedly return to relationships that became physically and emotionally abusive. Looking back, she now recognizes those patterns as part of a deeper struggle to prioritize her own needs.

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Another turning point came when she decided to give up alcohol after noticing how intensely it aggravated her anxiety. Nights out were often followed by 3 a.m. spirals over small comments or interactions from years earlier. By July 2023, Hadid proudly celebrated 10 months of sobriety, a milestone she credits with helping restore balance in her life.