Adams’s fear of the limelight

Amy Adams has never liked being the center of attention, said Alex Bilmes in Elle (U.K.). The fourth of seven kids, she grew up in a family of outgoing people: Her father is a soldier turned singer, her mother a masseuse and semi-professional body builder. Adams was happy to hide behind her more extroverted parents and siblings. “I like not being noticed,” she says. Isn’t that unusual for an actress? “It’s a struggle, because I love performing. You feel so vulnerable all the time on set. But I had that same feeling of being exposed when I was [working as] a waitress, I have it at parties.” Her discomfort grew worse after her breakout role in Steven Spielberg’s 2002 movie Catch Me If You Can; amid heightened expectations, she considered quitting acting. “I choked,” she says. “I did a series of really bad auditions. And for the couple of years after that it was, ‘I’m not strong enough to continue with this level of rejection.’” Adams, 38, eventually calmed her nerves, and has since received four Oscar nominations. She credits the birth of her daughter, Aviana, now 3, with giving her some perspective. Aviana, says Adams, has inherited her self-consciousness. “[She’ll say], ‘Why is everybody smiling at me?’ And I’m like, ‘You make them happy.’ And she’s like, ‘Can you tell them to stop?’”

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