Reese Witherspoon admits suffering from panic attacks for 3 weeks before filming 'Wild'

Reese Witherspoon turned in an Oscar-nominated performance for Wild, the 2014 film adaptation of Cheryl Strayed's memoir, but it came at a cost.

In this new conversation for Interview Magazine between Witherspoon and Tracee Ellis Ross, the latter asked which of Witherspoon's roles changed her the most. This was her brutally honest answer:

"Probably Wild. I was so scared to do that, Tracee. 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 Cheryl Strayed’s book 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. ... I don’t know if I’ll ever work that hard again, but it changed me on a cellular level."

Along with Witherspoon, Laura Dern, who played Cheryl's mother Bobbi, was nominated for an Oscar.

Wild was directed by Jean-Marc Vallee with the screenplay written by Nick Hornby.

Witherspoon has taken over television in recent years with prominent roles in Big Little Lies, Little Fires Everywhere and The Morning Show. However, the 45-year-old actress, entrepreneur and producer will soon reprise her beloved character Elle Woods in Legally Blonde 3—that screenplay will be partially written by Mindy Kaling.

In the meantime, enjoy the Season 2 teaser for The Morning Show below.