- Goldie Hawn opened up about her past experience with anxiety and panic attacks in a new interview.
- The actress, 76, began struggling with her mental health when she was thrust into fame in her early 20s.
- Her mental health journey inspired her to eventually start an organization called MindUp, which aims to help kids better understand their thoughts and feelings.
As the daughter of entertainers, Goldie Hawn was destined for the stage. But when she became a professional dancer at 19, she wasn’t prepared for what was to come.
“I didn’t want to be a movie star,” the now 76-year-old told Willie Geist in a January 16 interview on Today. She recalled seeing Hollywood and people in the movie industry as “messed up.”
“I didn't want to be like that,” she said. “I was a happy person.”
Then, in a rush of happenstance events, Hawn was chosen to star in the 1969 comedy Cactus Flower, which won her the academy award for Best Supporting Actress. Suddenly, her entire life had changed. She was an Oscar winner, and she didn't know how to handle it.
“What happened was is that being a dancer all my life and then being picked outta the chorus, put into a TV show, I didn’t respond well,” she told Geist. “And then I started getting anxious. And then I started getting panic attacks.”
Hawn’s sudden switch in temperament admittedly jarred her, which is why she sought help. “I was so scared about what was going on with me that I saw a doctor,” she said. “I wanted to get happy again. My intention was not to live this way.”
The First Wives Club star said she received professional guidance for eight years. “What was so great about it, it was like the university,” she explained. “I called it the university of me.”
Then, in 2003, she decided to take a break from acting, which is when she established what she considers her greatest achievement. She founded MindUp, an organization that, through research and education, helps kids “manage stress, regulate emotions and face the challenges of the 21st century with optimism, resilience, and compassion,” per the official website.
“I had a big, honkin’ dream, it was crazy. I mean, I thought, I want to create something that I can—that children can access, and teachers, all over the world,” she said. “Because we need to build a kinder world, a world that actually has greater capacity for critical thinking.”
Of all the movies she‘s acted in and even produced, nothing beats Hawn’s pride for MindUp. “I won’t get an Academy Award for this script, but definitely it’s gonna work for kids. You know what I mean?” she explained. “And then I said, ‘OK, if it works for, like, 10 children, I’ve done something good.’ And now there’re millions.”
Her mission now, more than ever, is to bring more positivity into the world. “We have to get back to basics,” she told Geist. “We have to really know what makes us happy.”
We couldn’t have said it better ourselves.
Kayla Blanton is a freelance writer-editor who covers health, nutrition, and lifestyle topics for various publications including Prevention, Everyday Health, SELF, People, and more. She’s always open to conversations about fueling up with flavorful dishes, busting beauty standards, and finding new, gentle ways to care for our bodies. She earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Ohio University with specializations in women, gender, and sexuality studies and public health, and is a born-and-raised midwesterner living in Cincinnati, Ohio with her husband and two spoiled kitties.
