Earth Essences.Com

Hilary Swank reveals she developed claustrophobia while shooting Away

She stars on the Netflix series Away, which follows a group of astronauts hoping to be the first people to set foot on Mars.She stars on the Netflix series Away, which follows a group of astronauts hoping to be the first people to set foot on Mars.

But Hilary Swank had a rude awakening when she began filming in her space suit costume after she suddenly suffered a claustrophobic attack.

The 46-year-old Oscar winner revealed in an Instagram post on Saturday that she nearly passed out the first time she put her helmet on.Hilary's post included multiple behind-the-scenes photos from the set of Away, including several of her in her space suit costume, which looked similar to contemporary space suits, if a bit thinner.

'I have never, not once in my life, had a phobia,' she stressed in her caption. 'Until now. 'I’m gonna be honest, I never understood them, I always thought "get over it, it’s just a spider, etc. walk away." Until l, of course myself, became severely claustrophobic.' 

The Million Dollar Baby star wrote that her 'entire body broke out in sweat' and that her face 'looked like a very ripe tomato.' 'I almost passed out while trying on my finished spacesuit and helmet for the first time. It is not just mental, it is very physical,' she explained.

'BUT, our mental minds do control a lot, if not everything. After six months, I was not able to overcome my claustrophobia, but I was able to come to a type of meeting of the minds with it.'When we calm our minds and sit with the fear,

NOT try and push it away, we can sit with it in a different way, that makes it "doable,"' she wrote.

Swank added that portraying an astronaut made her 'push into the sharp edges in a way I never thought it would. This was such an important lesson for me...in so many ways.'

She concluded her post with the hope that it would make others 'feel less alone' when their minds and bodies were temporarily overwhelmed with fear.

There's a good chance Hilary will have to put her suit back on in the near future, as Away was the most streamed program on Netflix in its first week on the streaming service.She stars on the show as NASA astronaut Emma Green, who commands a multinational mission to Mars that begins on the moon.

Her husband Matt is also an astronaut and might have led the mission himself, but he's forced to stay on Earth with their teenage daughter after he develops a neurological condition requiring treatment.

Vivian Wu, Mark Ivanir, Ato Essandoh and Ray Panthaki round out the cast of astronauts on the mission to Mars. Swank has won the Academy Award for Best Actress twice, first for her portrayal of trans man Brandon Teena in the 1999 biopic Boys Don't Cry, and again again in 2004 for her role as boxer Maggie Fitzgerald in Clint Eastwood's drama Million Dollar Baby.

Last month, she opened up in Health about taking a three-year hiatus from acting to care for her father Stephen after he received a lung transplant in 2014. 

The actress married the entrepreneur Philip Schneider in August 2018, and she was previously married to Chad Lowe from 1997–2007.

Reference: Daily Mail: Brian Marks For Dailymail.com 3 days ago: 27/09/2020