Emma Stone and Jennifer Lawrence: Two best friends, an interview, and some revelations!
In an all-revealing interview with Jennifer Lawrence for Elle, Emma Stone revealed the extent to which her anxiety has affected her life. The 29-year-old actress is set to feature on the cover of Elle's September issue magazine and opened up about her personal battles to Jennifer, who has remained one of the 'La La Land' star's best friends over the years.
"I'm sensitive on a level that is problematic," says Emma. When the 'Silver Linings Playbook' star pulls her leg about how she blushes for someone on TV — a condition that's more popularly known as second-hand embarrassment — Emma responds: "I mean, I’ve talked to my therapist about it before, and she’s like, 'Thank God you found [acting].'"
In the interview, Emma also talks about how she uses her anxiety and pain - her demons, to do good and that acting made these feelings seem productive. "I tend to use a lot of stuff that has actually happened in my life, and I pull from feelings that came with certain experiences," she tells Jennifer. "Then it at least feels productive to have all these feelings [laughs], which is why I started acting in general."
Both the A-Listers opened about their mental health, with Jennifer admitting that her friend's candidness about the struggles with anxiety helped her feel more normal for experiencing similar problems herself. When Jennifer ventures whether Emma's anxiety is something she's had since birth or if it's something that made her that way, the 29-year-old replies saying it was a "combination of all of it."
Emma also discloses how she was the most anxious that she can remember at just seven. "That's when I started having panic attacks," she says. "I think your wiring is just kind of what you are. My mom always says that I was born with my nerves outside of my body. But I’m lucky for the anxiety because it also makes me high-energy."
The anxiety would explain why the actress is notoriously social media shy. Asked why she stays away, Emma said: "I think it wouldn’t be a positive thing for me. If people can handle that sort of output and input in the social media sphere, power to them."
The Academy Award-winning actress explained there was a time in her life where she felt like she'd lost a grip on herself as well. "When I was a teenager, I was in a real sweet spot," she said. "Then in my mid-twenties, I really lost the plot. A lot of things shifted, and it felt like whatever that protective layer was, that mask that you build for yourself—this is my personality, this is who I am—totally shattered."
"The structure of my life shifted so much that I didn’t know how to relate to this new version, you know?" she clarified. "My parents got divorced, and I went through this stuff with my career really starting. It all happened at once."
Turning 30 this November 6, Emma looked back at her 20s with a heavy dose of nostalgia: "My twenties were a really interesting time, and there’s been a lot that has happened in these past 10 years, both positive and not as positive. It’s weird how much turning 30 crystallizes your life. Instead of just living the dreams that I had in my youth and getting to do the job that I love to do and making friends and going through all of that, it’s like, Now what do I actively want as an adult?"
Her upcoming television series 'Maniac,' premieres on Netflix on September 21, will see her reunited with Jonah Hill, with whom she starred alongside in her first-ever feature 'Superbad.' Speaking of which she said, "The thing I liked about 'Maniac' was that it’s about people who have their own internal struggles and are trying to fix them with a pill."
"But you see over the course of the show that human connection and love is really the only thing that gets us through life. I liked that idea, and I love Jonah," she adds.