Here’s How Acting Helped Emma Stone Deal With Her Anxiety

Emma Stone has become one of Hollywood’s brightest young stars in recent years, but part of her process was born out of challenges she encountered as a child with anxiety.

In an interview for her cover of Rolling Stone, the La La Land star revealed that she suffered from panic attacks and crippling bouts of anxiety as a kid.

“My anxiety was constant,” she said. “I would ask my mom a hundred times how the day was gonna lay out. What time was she gonna drop me off? Where was she gonna be? What would happen at lunch? Feeling nauseous. At a certain point, I couldn’t go to friends’ houses anymore – I could barely get out the door to school.”

Stone’s parents recognized that she needed help, getting her a therapist which she says “helped so much.” However, another way that she coped with her anxiety was through performing — participating in theater and improv groups to nurture an early love of comedy that would prepare her for the hilarious roles she would have later in life with Easy A and Superbad.

“I started acting at this youth theater, doing improv and sketch comedy,” Stone said. “You have to be present in improv, and that’s the antithesis of anxiety.”