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the picture PAOCU MEDIA MONITOR By STEVE K. WALZ-TELEVISION WRITER Jennifer's empathic "Best Little Girl..." "The frightening part was that I had started out weighing 104 pounds and by the time the film was finished I was down to 86 pounds. I just wasn't in control anymore and had to be under a doctor's lypenHiian the entire time I made the picture." --Jennifer Jason Leigh Los Angeles--When ABC decided last year to lense "The Best Little Girl in the World," dramatic tele-pic on anorexia nervosa, a psychosomatic affliction which affects millions of teenagers each year, Jodie Foster was offered the lead role with the hope that her legion of teenaged fans would be attracted to this topical project. Ironically, Jodie's weight began to fluc­ tuate, and by the time the flick was ready to roll it was felt that she looked too healthy for this challenging role. So the part went to a little known 19-year- old actress, Jennifer Jason Leigh, whose only claims to fame were a starring role in a badly received horror movie "Eyes of A Stranger," and the fact that she's the daughter of actor Vic Morrow. Q Method acting? But Jennifer became so engrossed with her video characterization, that she nearly fell victim to anorexia neryosa herself. Reflecting on her vexing Ex­ perience, Miss Leigh related, "This role was a life-and-death matter for me. I had never felt' so passio/fatfcty^about something like this, because onety my best friends had anorexiayiervosa \ "The frightening part wis that I had started out weighing 104 pounds and by the time the film was finished, I was down to 86 pounds. I just wasn't in con­ trol anymore and had to be under a doc­ tor's supervision the entire time I made "It's scary because the project is over, but you don't want something like this to end. It's the best work I've ever done. It was such a shock to myself when I saw how skinny I was on film ... I cried a lot!" What causes anorexia nervosa? Jen­ nifer convincingly elaborated, "Today you're not attractive unless you are thin It's also a psychological obsession to be thin and sometimes it kills. You're con­ sidered an anorexia nervosa case when you lose 20 percent of your body weight After awhile you begin to look like a con­ centration camp victim Mothers are a part of the root cause too because they expect their daughters to be perfect I didn't have that problem because my mother was very supportive." Like most aspiring actresses, Jennifer is hoping that this movie will convince casting directors that she can tackle a difficult role, especially since "Eyes of A Stranger" is still playing in various parts o# the country. Added Jennifer, "Integrity is so important in this town." TV OOMPUUM MimCU. MC.