Reese WitherspoonThe 49-year-old Oscar-winning actor and leading Hollywood producer. She says the relentless pressure she puts on herself is the reason for her professional success.
“I guess I was successful because I had so much anxiety. They go hand in hand,” Witherspoon said. Harpers Bazaar in an interview published Monday.
“I pushed myself to the extreme to present myself in an ideal way at work. Now we all know: perfection is unattainable.
But now that she's getting older, the Legally Blonde star says she's learning to slow down and be content with what she's already achieved.
“I mean, I've been lucky and I've had great work opportunities and I've worked with some of the greatest people on Earth,” she said.
Witherspoon began acting at a young age, landing her first major acting role in 1991's Man on the Moon. She starred in several more films in the next two films. decadeWith before turning his attention to producing, with notable projects including “The missing girl” and “Wild”.
In 2016, she founded the media company Hello Sunshine. Since 2019, she has been producing and starring in the Apple TV series.Morning show“, near Jennifer Aniston.
Despite her box office success, Witherspoon said others in the film industry still doubt her abilities.
“Even when Gone Girl and Wild grossed over $600 million and I won three Oscars, it still wasn’t a guarantee that I would be successful,” Witherspoon said. “People still wondered if I was a real producer or just doing this vanity project.”
This isn't the first time Witherspoon has spoken out about how anxiety has affected her work.
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Talking about “BodybuildersIn a September podcast, Witherspoon told hosts Matt Rogers and Bowen Young that she ” person with high anxiety“
“It could really be very performance-based,” Witherspoon said. “You have to perform. You have to show up and it really worries me. I used to have panic attacks, severe panic attacks, like crying.”
A rep for Witherspoon did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent by Business Insider after hours.
She's also not the only Hollywood star who believes anxiety pushed them forward.
In January 2024, Emma Stone told NPR that she views her anxiety “as a kind of superpower.”
“And if you can use it to do productive things, if you can use all of those feelings in those synapses that drive something creative or something you're passionate about or something interesting, anxiety is like rocket fuel because you can't help but get out of bed and do something, do something, do something, because all that energy is inside of you,” Stone said.
Speaking people In May 2024, Ryan Reynolds said he had learned to use his anxiety as an advantage at work.
“My work is extremely rewarding,” Reynolds said. “People with anxiety constantly think about the future. You constantly think, “What if this happens? What if this happens? You're always telling yourself stories.”
