Emma Roberts on Her Aerie Lingerie Ads: I Want Girls to Think of ‘Real’ as ‘Beautiful’

Emma Roberts has a new life philosophy, and it sounds like one we could all learn from.

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“Since I’ve turned 24, I really like cleared out toxic people in my life,” Roberts told PEOPLE Friday at the launch dinner celebrating her #AerieREAL campaign. “I only surround myself with people — with work and with friends. People that are going to make me feel confident and make me happy and make me laugh. And so that way, the mean things don’t get to me as much.”

That also includes particpating in projects that make her feel great, like posing for unretouched photos as part of Aerie’s #aeriereal campaign (we were there on set!) — which she celebrated this weekend with pals including Lea Michele and Becca Tobin.

“I just love the message behind it. I thought the whole idea was so inspiring,” the the Scream Queens star previously told PEOPLE. “Yes, I’m an actress, but I’m also a real girl. Seeing [Photoshopped] ads, you get kind of bummed. You’re like, ‘Ugh, do these people really look like that?’”

At an intimate dinner that also included guests Jaime King, Kiernan Shipka, Tallulah Willis and Scout Willis, the 24-year-old actress expressed feeling vulnerable while exuding confidence on the topic of the negativity she experiences on social media.

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“I feel like people think actors aren’t real people and you can just say whatever you want about them and it doesn’t matter,” Roberts said. “I guess it hurts my feelings, so I try not to read that stuff. It makes me more mad when I see it written about my friends or, like, my sister. My sister is 14 and she didn’t want me to post a photo of [us] because she said people were saying mean things about her. That really broke my heart.”

Though Roberts admitted to being a little nervous to bare skin for the shoot, her confidence shined, and was quick to step into the ‘role model’ role.

“I feel like whenever girls see the word ‘real,’ they automatically think ‘flaw,’” said Roberts. “I hope that with this campaign they start seeing ‘real’ as beautiful and just who you are, inside and out.”

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What do you think of her campaign?

— Christina Dugan