Stone’s battle with anxiety

last updated 8 January 2015

Emma Stone should be having the time of her life, said Giles Hattersley in The Sunday Times (U.K.). The actress was lauded for her performance in the hit movie The Help and has a leading role in this summer’s blockbuster The Amazing Spider-Man. But Stone can’t relax. “I guess I’m close to my mortality,” says the 23-year-old. “I feel hyperaware that everything could end. That’s always been in my mind, for whatever reason, since I was very small.” Stone suffered her first panic attack when she was 8 years old and spent the next two years in therapy. “I was just kind of immobilized by [anxiety]. I didn’t want to go to my friends’ houses or hang out with anybody, and nobody really understood.” She only started to emerge after taking up improv comedy at age 11. “It gave me a sense of purpose. I wanted to make people laugh. Comedy was my sport. It taught me how to roll with the punches.” Now when Stone feels a panic attack coming, she finds a way to channel her anxiety. While filming Spider-Man, she baked to stay calm. “I felt really out of control of my surroundings. I was just baking all the time. It made me feel, if I put these [ingredients] in, I’ll know what the outcome is.”