Doctor Foster's Suranne Jones has revealed how anxiety caused her to dramatically collapse during a play
Doctor Foster star Suranne Jones has revealed how she became crippled with anxiety before dramatically collapsing during a West End play.
The actress had to withdraw from Frozen, a harrowing story in which she played the mother of a murdered girl, after the backstage incident.
It was initially attributed to illness and the 'deeply affecting' subject matter of the play, which explores child abuse.
But now the star has told how her mother's death after suffering dementia, the pressures of bringing up a young son and a punishing work schedule all took their toll.
'I'm really good at compartmentalising. Building up resilience,' she said. 'And I probably did that too much. Put all the bad stuff to one side, and worked and worked and worked.'
Recalling her mounting anxiety before her collapse at London's Theatre Royal Haymarket, she added: 'I'd been feeling edgy. Nervous around people. Not being able to converse properly. Not being able to get my points across.
'And being in the theatre didn't help. I don't think theatre was the cause, but I think it heightened it.
'You've a 1,000-seater full of people staring at you. And when you feel the anxiety, breathlessness, it's just drilling right into your solar plexus and you think, f***. This is something I can't stop, not once the show's started.'
