{"id":1226870,"date":"2025-03-05T13:13:23","date_gmt":"2025-03-05T13:13:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/pt\/?p=1226870"},"modified":"2025-03-05T13:13:23","modified_gmt":"2025-03-05T13:13:23","slug":"shania-twain-gets-candid-body-confidence-biopic-and-turning-60-excl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/pt\/shania-twain-gets-candid-body-confidence-biopic-and-turning-60-excl\/","title":{"rendered":"Shania Twain Gets Candid: Body Confidence, Biopic and Turning 60 (Excl)"},"content":{"rendered":"
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When Shania Twain<\/strong><\/a> arrived in Nashville in the early 1990s, record execs didn\u2019t quite know what to do with her. She was clearly beautiful and talented, but her music \u2014 with its country-pop sound and sassy and unapologetically pro-woman lyrics \u2014 didn\u2019t fit into a neat little box. \u201cIt was its own thing,\u201d the 59-year-old singer tells Us Weekly<\/em> in the latest cover story of her unique style, admitting that there \u201cwasn\u2019t a lot of confidence\u201d that she would strike a chord with audiences or the industry. \u201cWhat I was saying, what I was wearing, how I was performing \u2014 all of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not staying true to her vision wasn\u2019t an option for Twain, who will head back on the road this summer for the final dates of her aptly-titled Queen of Me Tour<\/em><\/a>. (The Live Nation tour kicks off in Buffalo, New York, on July 19 and wraps August 1 in Hollywood, Florida.) \u201cI only ever cared about being as original as possible and being myself,\u201d she says. \u201cThere is no other me. That\u2019s my biggest power.\u201d Believing in herself paid off. With more than 100 million records sold worldwide, Twain is the best-selling female country artist of all time. She\u2019s changed the music landscape by bridging the gap between mainstream pop and her country roots, paving the way for future crossover artists like Taylor Swift, Kelsea Ballerini<\/strong> and Kacey Musgraves<\/strong>, all of whom credit her as a major influence.<\/p>\n

Along with professional triumphs, there have been personal tragedies<\/a>. Her mom, Sharon<\/strong>, and stepfather, Jerry<\/strong>, died in a car accident in 1987, leaving Twain to care for her three younger siblings when she was still in her early 20s. She played local gigs for money, which she\u2019d been doing since the age of 8, when she began singing in smoky bars near her childhood home in Timmins, Ontario. \u201cI would go around midnight, when they closed the bar. Everyone in there was smoking and drinking,\u201d she recalls. In 2008, heartbreak struck again when she discovered her producer husband of 14 years, Robert \u201cMutt\u201d Lange<\/strong>, had been having an affair<\/a> with her close friend Marie-Anne Thi\u00e9baud<\/strong>. (Twain and Lange are parents to son Eja, 23.) In an unexpected twist, Twain soon fell for Marie-Anne\u2019s ex-husband, Frederic<\/strong>. They wed in 2011<\/a> and spend most of their time living at their lakefront Switzerland home.<\/p>\n

With her 60th birthday coming up in August, Twain \u2014 who says body image issues plagued her for decades \u2014 is feeling more relaxed and confident than ever. \u201cI\u2019m really grateful that I\u2019ve reached so many mental liberations,\u201d she says. \u201cI feel good.\u201d Here, the trailblazing icon chats with Us<\/em> about doing life on her terms.<\/p>\n

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BRIAN BOWEN SMITH\/AUGUST IMAGES<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When you were starting out, where did you find the confidence to fight for your vision?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I was always like, \u201cI need to be myself.\u201d If anything, I was in a rush to get more and more authentic. Any artist\u2019s greatest power is originality. I was insecure about lots of things, but I had conviction. I could see what was really good. I could see it in others and in myself. I had a lot of clarity with that.<\/p>\n

Did you have any fear of failure?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I was willing to take the risk. I always thought, \u201cI can go back to singing in bars if I really have to. I can always make a living with my voice.\u201d I didn\u2019t even know what my goals were. I just wanted to make a great record, and thankfully, it worked and the audience agreed and the industry didn\u2019t have a choice but to get on board and give the fans what they wanted. I always say to young people, \u201cDo not allow yourself to be intimidated.\u201d I\u2019ve always been quite strong and fearless in that sense.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ve talked in the past about having \u201ccrippling\u201d stage fright. Do you remember when that started?<\/strong><\/p>\n

There have been many layers to that. There was a time when I did not want to be on stage at all. As a child, I was singing in primarily adult environments, house parties, bars that were heavily smoky. They didn\u2019t want alcohol being served if a child was there, but at last call, everybody\u2019s table is full of drinks. Most people were intoxicated. I didn\u2019t want to be there. It was smelly, and I\u2019m a kid, and I\u2019m supposed to be in bed. I don\u2019t think it was in my nature to want to be in the spotlight, and then you put me in a crummy environment and now I really don\u2019t want to be there, right?<\/p>\n

It sounds pretty intense.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I loved to sing, I loved my parents and I wanted them to be happy and proud of their little singer. So I was always torn. I went into this career with anxiety about being on stage. And then as all of my friends are going off to college, I\u2019m already making a living as a singer. I\u2019ve got a talent that gets me a paycheck\u2026 is it dumb of me to switch gears and start over? It was confusing. Then my parents died, and all of a sudden, [I] didn\u2019t have a choice. Whether I wanted to stop singing or not, I really needed to make money. I can\u2019t afford to go off to school to become something else anymore. I\u2019ve got little kids at home. I have bills to pay.<\/p>\n

Were you still feeling conflicted about performing live at that point?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Very shortly after my parents died, I get a recording contract and I\u2019m still anxious about being on stage. I\u2019m forcing myself through it. I\u2019m capable of doing it. I can get out there and do what I have to do, but I cringe [thinking] about getting past the threshold [and] getting on stage. You\u2019ll hear this from a lot of performers; you\u2019ll hear it from athletes. Some people vomit before they go out for a match. I thought I was the only one like this. For a long time, I resent being admired. Now I\u2019m getting big, I\u2019m getting successful and my audiences are so loving and giving. The appreciation is pouring out at me. And the more adulation [I get], the guiltier I feel about not wanting to get up here every night.<\/p>\n

How did you overcome that?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I realized the joy was not the adulation for me. The joy was their joy. They were having such a good time dancing and singing, and I realized it wasn\u2019t about me at all \u2014 it was about the music. And that made me very happy. I felt like I became part of the audience. It just changed everything. I enjoyed myself, and I also started getting over body image issues. I\u2019m so over that. All of those insecurities just got absorbed when I took on a different perspective. My only regret is that it took so long.<\/p>\n

Did you feel pressure to be perfect?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I want to be excellent at what I do, but you cannot be perfect live. No one can because it is a living, breathing thing. I had to let go of [that]. I realized that everybody\u2019s there for the live performance. They know they\u2019re not listening to the record. They\u2019re not there for me to show them how perfect I am.<\/p>\n

Was body image something you\u2019d struggled with since you were very young?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I was always insecure about my body. As a female, throughout my youth [I was] touched inappropriately so many times [and] I was in abusive situations where you hate being a woman. I hated being a girl. My mother goes, \u201cWhat do you want to be when you grow up?\u201d and I said, \u201cA bodybuilder.\u201d I wanted to be a big, strong man that nobody was going to f\u2014 around with. No one was going to touch my arm or my ass or anything unless I was OK with it. I was hiding all through my teens. I hated having boobs, I hated having hips. I think a lot of that was also because a lot of the models when I was a kid were very, very thin. That was a sign of elegance and feminine beauty to me.<\/p>\n

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\"Shania<\/div>
Courtesy of Brian Bowen Smith\/August Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When did you start to become more accepting of yourself?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Once I got behind the camera and started looking at clothes and fashion, I was like, \u201cWow, I\u2019m actually a woman after all, and I think I might like it.\u201d When I wrote \u201cMan, I Feel Like a Woman!,\u201d it was an absolute celebration [of that]. And I felt empowered behind the camera. I was like, \u201cThey can\u2019t grab me. I\u2019m safe.\u201d<\/p>\n

What\u2019s your advice for anyone struggling with body confidence?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I wish I\u2019d come to this so much earlier, but I think referencing yourself to others is dangerous. For me, walking on the beach in a bathing suit is like, \u201cWhat was I waiting for?\u201d Of course I don\u2019t have the body I imagined \u2014 because my image of the perfect body is a supermodel with no cellulite, perfect proportions and a beautiful stride. This is just not me. You can wish a lot of time away ignoring what you actually look like. Just get real with yourself.<\/p>\n

You\u2019re working on a biopic. Who do you want to play you?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s hard to say. For people to understand the life of Shania Twain, we need to look beyond the stage, and who is that actress? If we just think stage, then we\u2019d naturally want to go to somebody that we know as a stage performer. So I don\u2019t know. I keep thinking about who would play my mother because she \u2028was so much at the core of how my whole life unfolded. I imagine Robin Wright playing her.<\/p>\n

You started the Queen of Me Tour in 2023. How does it feel to wrap up?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s like closing a chapter on a very amazing couple of years. It\u2019ll be celebratory and, at the same time, a bit nostalgic. When you start preparing for an end, I tend to look back on how great it was. You start forgetting about how hard it was. It was amazing, but so much work goes into it.<\/p>\n

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\n Related: <\/span>Shania Twain Applauds Taylor Swift for Being a \u2018Fabulous Example\u2019<\/span><\/a>
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\n\t\t\tShania Twain has shone a light on Taylor Swift\u2019s talents once again. The Queen of Country Pop, 58, has nothing but praise for Swift, 34, and believes Swift\u2019s influence on the music industry is as significant as her own. \u201cI know that she\u2019s doing the same in her own right for other young artists coming [\u2026]\t\t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

You also finished your Come On Over Vegas residency in February.<\/strong><\/p>\n

It feels good and like I\u2019m coming to the end of something really great. The \u201cMan! I Feel Like a Woman!\u201d outfit is the original from the video, so I\u2019ll be putting her away. If I pull it out in another 30 years, that would be something to write about. The idea is to at least preserve it, in case I\u2019m able to wear it.<\/p>\n

Do you have a favorite song to perform live?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019d say \u201cMan! I Feel Like a Woman!\u201d It\u2019s a happy song, and it makes people jump up and sing along. It\u2019s inclusive; I see little girls and little boys singing it. The joy and the spirit of the song makes me very happy.<\/p>\n

What do you plan to do with your downtime?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s going to be a lot of writing and time with other musical people to put [a new] album together. Some mental break \u2028time too, because writing can burn you out. I\u2019ll probably do some horse riding and walking in the sand and catch up with friends.<\/p>\n

What does your ideal day off look like?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I love to be alone with my guitar. I could just write and not see anybody for days and be perfectly happy.<\/p>\n

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\"Shania<\/div>
Samir Hussein\/WireImage<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Are there any artists you\u2019d love to collaborate with?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019d like to make a project of that \u2014 doing songs with my favorite artists over time. It would be a mashup of genres.<\/p>\n

You turn 60 in August. What are your thoughts on this big milestone?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I feel like I\u2019ve got this pass all of a sudden to care more about myself and say, \u201cHey, I\u2019ve lived 60 frigging years. If you want to do [something], do it!\u201d Whether you\u2019re parenting or being a friend or a sibling or a child, there are all these responsibilities. And when I add fame to that, it\u2019s a lot to keep up with. I\u2019m a giver, and so I\u2019d like to give more to myself.<\/p>\n

You look amazing. What\u2019s your secret?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I try to drink as much water as I can. I have always exfoliated. I don\u2019t actually buy an exfoliator; I just make it. If I\u2019m somewhere near the beach, I\u2019ll use sand. I believe in old-fashioned things, like a bit of Vaseline. I always thought Bag Balm was the best of all things. The cosmetic one that\u2019s been a staple for me is Cr\u00e8me de la Mer.<\/p>\n

After all this time in the spotlight, with so many accolades and awards under your belt, do you feel like you have nothing left to prove?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I really don\u2019t have anything left to prove. Even thinking about age, I don\u2019t feel like I need to prove to anyone that I look younger than I am. I\u2019d rather focus more on the things that I can change or contribute to \u2014 I can create magic through music, and I have a lot I \u2028want to achieve and have fun with, whether it\u2019s music or film. I\u2019d like to write and produce another artist\u2019s album. There\u2019s just so many things. \u2028I keep saying I\u2019m going to have to live to be 120!<\/p>\n

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