News | Entertainment
25 Feb 2026 15:13
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.”

    © 2026 Bang Showbiz, NZCity

     Other Entertainment News
     25 Feb: Robert Aramayo was lost for words after being crowned Best Leading Actor at the 2026 EE BAFTA Film Awards
     25 Feb: Lizzie McGuire and Revenge of the Nerds star Robert Carradine dies at 71
     25 Feb: Jessie Buckley dedicated her 2026 EE BAFTA Film Award for Best Leading Actress to the women who inspired her to break the mould
     25 Feb: Hamnet was dec lared Outstanding British Film at the 2026 EE BAFTA Film Awards
     25 Feb: Robert Aramayo joked he was scared to pick up his EE BAFTA Rising Star Award after he previously dropped a gong
     25 Feb: Ryan Coogler "didn't expect" Sinners to win Best Original Screenplay at the 2026 EE BAFTA Film Awards
     25 Feb: Akinola Davies Jr. dedicated his EE BAFTA Award for Outstanding Debut to immigrant parents who sacrificed everything to give their children a better future
     Top Stories

    RUGBY RUGBY
    Scott Robertson will get an opportunity to coach against the Springboks this year More...


    BUSINESS BUSINESS
    Meridian's strong bounce-back in the second half of last year has renewed talk of hydro expansion More...



     Today's News

    Law and Order:
    Auckland police have charged a woman discovered early today trapped in a property under renovation - who's now in hospital with injuries 14:57

    Swimming:
    Cull and swimming ban resume after fatal shark attack in New Caledonia 14:57

    Entertainment:
    Robert Aramayo was lost for words after being crowned Best Leading Actor at the 2026 EE BAFTA Film Awards 14:51

    Law and Order:
    Australian man Peter Williams given 7 years' jail for selling US trade secrets to Russian broker 14:47

    Entertainment:
    Lizzie McGuire and Revenge of the Nerds star Robert Carradine dies at 71 14:37

    Entertainment:
    Jessie Buckley dedicated her 2026 EE BAFTA Film Award for Best Leading Actress to the women who inspired her to break the mould 14:21

    Environment:
    Extreme weather is transforming the world’s rivers. We need new ways to protect them 14:17

    Politics:
    The Government's quietly ditched its quarterly action plans 14:07

    Entertainment:
    Hamnet was dec lared Outstanding British Film at the 2026 EE BAFTA Film Awards 13:51

    Law and Order:
    Police say the community is safer without the pathetic gutless coward who murdered a Christchurch mother in front of her children 13:47


     News Search






    Power Search


    © 2026 New Zealand City Ltd