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Zoe Kravitz basically ate dirt to lose weight in preparation to play a girl struggling with anorexia and bulimia.

The Divergent star told Us Weekly that she went on a pretty extreme diet and exercise regimen while getting ready for her challenging role as Marie in The Road Within. Zoe’s already a very thin woman, but she had to drop another 20 pounds before filming.

“I did a cleanse,” Zoe said. “I tried to do it the healthiest way as possible, even though it’s not healthy to do.”

She added, explaining, “I ended up drinking clay because it cleans out your body and fills you up. I was eating like a Mason jar of pureed vegetables a day and running.”

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People have done a lot of dangerous things in the name of weight loss, but this has got to be one of the weirdest we’ve ever heard about! Supposedly, drinks containing bentonite clay are thought to have purifying qualities. We still wouldn’t advise that anyone try this, and Zoe probably wouldn’t, either!

Consuming the clay smoothies did help Zoe achieve her weight loss goals. She hated the guzzling dirt, though, and Zoe called the whole process “awful” because she no longer felt like herself. “I was a space cadet,” she recalled.

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Thankfully, Zoe didn’t have to take up any other odd practices to slim down. After preparing her body for the role, she did a little research on eating disorders. As it turns out, she may not have had to do too much reading up on the matter because she’s had issues with body image despite her own trim frame.

“I’ve struggled with it myself in the past,” Zoe admitted, musing that it may be a way more common problem. “I think all young women do. There are a bunch of images that are thrown in our faces all the time about what we’re supposed to look like at 14, 15, 16. It’s confusing. I think every woman can identify with that struggle.”

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