Emma Stone has been in therapy since she was seven: ''Anxiety makes you really selfish''

A completely different experience from that of Bella Baxter, a woman completely devoid of shame and inhibitions.

Image Credit: Searchlight Pictures

She is one of the most beloved stars of recent years and definitely one of the great protagonists of the 2023 film season: next month, Emma Stone could collect her second Oscar for Best Actress for her extraordinary performance as Bella Baxter in Poor Things! by Yorgos Lanthimos. In the gothic comedy, Stone plays a "creature" with a singular story: a woman brought back to life after death by a sui generis scientist, who implanted her with the brain of a newborn baby. As a result, Bella is completely devoid of shame and inhibitions regarding polite society, she feels no shame nor does she care about making a good impression in front of others.

A condition that was not easy for Emma Stone to understand: the actress has repeatedly told the press about her relationship with anxiety disorders, which she has suffered from since she was very young, so much so that she began psychotherapy sessions when she was just seven years old. Her care and passion for acting helped her get out of the darkest periods, but anxiety is a stumbling block against which her life still crashes today. Precisely for this reason, playing Bella Baxter was particularly exciting for her, as she revealed to Variety: «It is for this reason that she drove me crazy as a character. I liked that she had no shame or judgment about who she was and that she hadn't been bullied by the social norms that children have to abide by as they're growing up. Part of the nature of anxiety disorders is that you're always paying attention to yourself."

«In some respects, and I realize this is horrible to say, anxiety is a condition that makes you really selfish – explained Emma Stone -. I don't want to offend people with anxiety... I have it too. But I want to say that those who suffer from this problem think about themselves most of the time. Think things like, “What will happen to me? What did I just say? What have I done?" On the contrary, Bella approaches the world only with the idea of having new experiences. It's a totally different way of experiencing emotions."

Poor Things! is currently in cinemas and will compete in 11 nominations at the 2024 Oscars, including naturally that for Best Leading Actress.