Aishwarya Rai gained about 20 pounds for her role in Bride…, because Chadha expressed her preference for a 'more realistic appearance' as opposed to a thin waif.

Meanwhile, Nair was delighted to see Reese Witherspoon pregnant during filming Vanity Fair, and gladly incorporated it into her script. She later said that she'd jokingly asked Reese's husband Ryan Phillipe Jr. to 'knock her up' so she didn't look like a waif.

In 2002, both actresses enjoyed stabs at classic period literature: Witherspoon playing Cecily in Wilde's