News | Entertainment
18 Sep 2025 11:22
NZCity News
NZCity CalculatorReturn to NZCity

  • Start Page
  • Personalise
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • Finance
  • Shopping
  • Jobs
  • Horoscopes
  • Lotto Results
  • Photo Gallery
  • Site Gallery
  • TVNow
  • Dating
  • SearchNZ
  • NZSearch
  • Crime.co.nz
  • RugbyLeague
  • Make Home
  • About NZCity
  • Contact NZCity
  • Your Privacy
  • Advertising
  • Login
  • Join for Free

  •   Home > News > Entertainment

    Reese Witherspoon had panic attacks "for weeks" before filming 'Wild'

    The 45-year-old actress admitted making the 2014 movie - which is based on Cheryl Strayed's memoir about getting her life back together by hiking the Pacific Crest Trail - was the biggest career challenge she's ever faced and she turned to hypnosis to calm her fears before she started work on the project


    Speaking to Tracee Ellis Ross for Interview magazine, she admitted: "I was so scared to do that... I had hypnosis, I was so scared. I was having panic attacks for three weeks before I started.

    “There was the nudity, sexuality, and drug-use aspect, but also being alone on camera with no other actors. I hadn’t ever been alone in scenes for days and days. There were probably 25 days of the shoot where I had no other actor opposite me. It was just me and a camera and a backpack. I was like, ‘Is this going to be so boring?’”

    And the 'Big Little Lies' star admitted making the film changed her forever after pushing her to her limits.

    She said: "I don’t know if I’ll ever work that hard again, but it changed me on a cellular level.”

    But Reese - who has Ava, 21, and Deacon, 17, with ex-husband Ryan Phillippe, as well as Tennessee, eight, with spouse Jim Toth - thought Cheryl's book was "beautiful and sacred" because it had taught her a lot.

    She said: “[It] was so beautiful and sacred to me because it spoke to me so deeply about how we as women have to save ourselves. There’s no mother or father coming to save us. There’s no spouse.

    "I thought it was radical that at the end of the film, she ends up with no family, no money, no job, no partner, and she’s happy.”

    © 2025 Bang Showbiz, NZCity

     Other Entertainment News
     18 Sep: Danielle Fishel is developing some "routines" to cope with the demands of Dancing with the Stars
     18 Sep: Tom Odell has tried to perform a concert in Ukraine amid the ongoing war
     18 Sep: Lil Nas X is "in treatment" following his arrest in August
     18 Sep: Farrah Abraham's teenage daughter is "so wise"
     18 Sep: Shailene Woodley and Lucas Bravo have split-up
     18 Sep: Stanley Tucci will be part of NBC's coverage of the Winter Olympics
     18 Sep: Katy Perry and Justin Trudeau are still "very interested in each other"
     Top Stories

    RUGBY RUGBY
    World champion high jumper Hamish Kerr has fired a warning to his rivals that he believes a strong offseason will take him to another level More...


    BUSINESS BUSINESS
    Calls for better quality analysis of Cabinet policy proposals, and how they're regulated More...



     Today's News

    National:
    Why are state visits such powerful diplomatic tools? A constitutional expert explains 11:17

    Business:
    Calls for better quality analysis of Cabinet policy proposals, and how they're regulated 11:07

    Entertainment:
    Danielle Fishel is developing some "routines" to cope with the demands of Dancing with the Stars 11:01

    Soccer:
    The Football Ferns have locked in two matches against Mexico next month 10:47

    Entertainment:
    Tom Odell has tried to perform a concert in Ukraine amid the ongoing war 10:31

    Soccer:
    Liverpool have secured their first Champions League football victory of the season, albeit late 10:27

    International:
    Gout Gout shows class to reach 200m semifinal at World Athletics Championships 10:27

    Living & Travel:
    A large-scale search is underway for a 66-year-old Christchurch woman, missing since yesterday 10:27

    National:
    ‘Fat but fit’: what the latest study reveals 10:27

    National:
    Magical alchemy: Arundhati Roy’s compelling memoir illuminates a ‘restless, unruly’ life 10:17


     News Search






    Power Search


    © 2025 New Zealand City Ltd