The 2014 role earned the actress an Oscar nomination.
Reese Witherspoon struggled leading up to filming her 2014 drama, Wild. The film, which was adapted from Cheryl Strayed's memoir, Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail, primarily featured Witherspoon as Cheryl hiking alone on the Pacific Crest Trail.
In a new profile for Interview magazine, Witherspoon opens up to actress Tracee Ellis Ross about preparing for the role, saying it changed her the most of all her roles.
"I was so scared to do that," the 45-year-old Oscar-winning actress admits. "I had hypnosis, I was so scared. I was having panic attacks for three weeks before I started."
There were many elements of the film that left Witherspoon very nervous to take on the part.
"There was the nudity, sexuality, and drug-use aspect, but also being alone on camera with no other actors," she shares. "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?'”
Ultimately the film was a success with both Witherspoon and Laura Dern earning Oscar nominations for their respective roles.
Despite her fears related to the role, Witherspoon also opens up about how her confidence has grown as she's aged.
"I now know what I’m good at, and I know what I’m not good at," she says. "My passions have become more intensified as I’ve gotten older."
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