Oren Lennox

**Oren Lennox** is a character on Netflix's Tiny Pretty Things. He is portrayed by Barton Cowperthwaite.

He is a strapping prince of a man, wealth and good looks gave him great roles, Bette as a girlfriend, and primed him for success, but beneath this veneer lies crippling anxiety, a dysfunctional obsession with his body, and a need for physical perfection.

## Early Life

Oren was overweight from a young age but strived to be a dancer. His weight often held him back, and only Monique DuBois saw potential in the boy's dancing at ten years old even though everyone saw him as 'tubby'. She accepted him into the The Archer School of Ballet. The pressure placed on Oren to lose weight and maintain a seemingly perfect body image led him to develop poor habits regarding his food intake.

## Throughout the Series

### Season 1

Season 1 episode 8/Releve-Oren's eating disorder takes a turn when he enters late and alone to the photoshoot wearing a black jacket with the hood up. He appears tired and repeats his move twice. When it's done, he leans over himself, trying to catch his breath. People's voices are mumbled and ringing in his ears. He brushes off other people's concerns for his health and exits to lean on the bench. Immediately, he passes out and enters a nightmare. In this, he imagines himself in the medical room with Cassie. She promises him that she can make him perfect and he seems relieved at this. However, he begins to peel off his skin as if it is a suit to reveal his muscles and he screams. When he wakes up, he finds a concerned Neveah beside him and admits that he 'forgot' to eat. He enters his and Shane's room to find Bette there. She throws a dark chocolate bar at him and says that she knows he gets grumpy when he's hungry, implying she knows about his negative eating habits.

## Physical Appearance

Oren Lennox has short brown hair and blue eyes. He has a muscular build and is six feet tall.

## Personality

Oren is extremely loyal to those he cares for, including his (ex)girlfriend Bette Whitlaw, though this loyalty does not extend to their romantic relationship as he cheated on her with Shane McRae. He didn't hesitate to offer an alibi for Bette the night of Cassie's incident, even though he didn't know where she was. Oren is sympathetic towards others and can tell when someone he cares for is hurting. He is often disheartened when it comes to his weight and physical appearance, remarking that he is never perfect enough. Even when Alan Renfrew states that his weight gain is normal, he is immediately disappointed in himself for gaining the weight. His obsession with being a perfect weight is triggered, and he begins skipping meals, weighing himself, and keeping track of everything he eats. He goes as far as counting the calories of his consumption and commenting on the food. His eating disorder becomes an issue when he passes out, though he lies to cover it up and pretends to be fine. When Oren and Neveah faced expulsion, Oren made sure that the New York Institute of Dance would accept Neveah as well as him.

## Appearances

### Season 1

* Corps
* Range of Motion
* Class Act
* Dance Dance Revolution
* Split Sole
* Joie de Vivre
* Catch and Release
* Relevé
* It's Not the Walking, It's the Rising
* Push Comes to Shove

## Trivia

* Oren has an eating disorder and body dysmorphic disorder as stated by Barton himself.
	+ He keeps track of everything he eats in a black notepad. He counts the calories of each item of food and comments on how the food impacted his dancing. Most of the comments regarding food are negative.
	+ He shows both bulimic and anorexic qualities - binge eating followed by purging, setting unreasonable body goals, lying about the food he consumes, and extreme excerising.
	+ In the books Oren's name is Alec Lucas, he has a little sister named Sophie, June is his half sister, he breaks up with Bette and later dates Gigi.
	+ In the books Alec is straight.

## References

Tiny Pretty Things - Netflix Original show