Claire Foy opens up on battle with anxiety: ‘It definitely magnified when I started acting’

The actress bared all in the candid interview
Safeeyah Kazi16 October 2018
The Weekender

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Claire Foy has opened up on her secret struggle with anxiety.

The Crown star told how she has suffered since she was a child but it “exploded” when she became an actress, despite claiming accolades for her leading role as Queen Elizabeth in the Netflix show.

In a candid interview with the Guardian, Foy explained: “When you have anxiety, you have anxiety about – I don’t know – crossing the road.

“The thing about it is, it’s not related to anything that would seem logical. It’s purely about that feeling in the pit of your stomach, and the feeling that you can’t, because you’re ‘this’ or you’re ‘that’.

“It’s my mind working at a thousand beats a second, and running away with a thought. It’s lots of thoughts about how s*** I am.”

Reflecting on her long-term battle, the 34-year-old admitted that she felt her anxiety had become a form of self-protection.

Foy said: “It was a tool to survive, definitely. To try to hold on to everything. To try to feel safe.

Emotional: Foy has battled with self-doubt
Reuters

“If I knew a day was going to be ruined by anxiety, that was good in a way, because it meant I knew what was going to happen.

“It definitely magnified when I started doing this. Exploded. Yeah.”

As an adult, Foy explained that her anxiety has “plateaued” significantly.

She said: “It's still there, but I guess I don't believe it so much anymore.

"I used to think that this was my lot in life, to be anxious. And that I would struggle and struggle and struggle with it, and that it would make me quite miserable, and that I'd always be restricted.

“But now I'm able to disassociate myself from it more.

Claire Foy - In pictures

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