Reese Witherspoon is learning to relax nowadays, but she says the rise to her success as an Oscar-winning actress was thanks in part to one complicated motivator: anxiety.
“I was probably successful because I had so much anxiety. They go hand in hand,” she told Harper’s Bazaar U.K.
The Legally Blonde star started her career at a young age—appearing in commercials at just 7 years old—and hasn’t stopped working since. Witherspoon also founded her own media company, Hello Sunshine, which in 2021 sold for $900 million to two former Disney execs (though she still oversees operations and remains on the company’s board).
To date, she has reportedly amassed an estimated net worth of at least $440 million. But now, the 49-year-old star has candidly admitted her journey to the top came at a steep emotional cost.
“I had pressured myself to extreme levels to show up at work in a perfect way,” she said. “We all now know, perfect is not attainable. It’s not sustainable. I stressed myself out in service of my job, and it got me really, really far. I’m rewarded for my anxiety and perfectionism.”
After four decades of hustling, Witherspoon says she’s finally letting go of the pressure she once put on herself.
“I’m getting older and starting to relax into the idea that I’m enough,” she said. “I mean, I’ve had an abundance of good fortune, great work opportunities, and worked with some of the greatest people on earth.”
Perfectionism drives top leaders, from Hollywood to Silicon Valley
Witherspoon isn’t the first celebrity to attribute her success in Hollywood to anxiety. Actor and entrepreneur Ryan Reynolds said the trait enabled him to shield himself against future headwinds in his career.
“My job benefits greatly,” he told People magazine last year. “People with anxiety are constantly thinking into the future, ‘What if this happens? What if that happens?’
“You’re always telling yourself stories. So when we’re shooting Deadpool & Wolverine, I’m also sitting in the audience as a cautious critic, thinking, ‘I don’t buy that.’ Anxiety creates an ecosystem of awareness I wouldn’t otherwise have.”
Outside of the red carpet, a motivating fear of failure has also trickled down into the minds of the world’s most prominent business leaders. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang may have a company valued at $4.9 trillion, yet, according to his biographer Stephen Witt, a fear of failure has become his fuel while leading one of the world’s biggest chipmakers.
“This is his gasoline,” Witt said to CNBC in June. “What makes him go is this anxiety.
“I think the most surprising thing about Jensen is that he’s almost totally driven by negative emotions,” Witt added. “He’s really motivated by fear and guilt to a significant extent: fear of failure, paranoia about competition, and guilt about letting people down.”