by Anna Kendrick has captivated audiences with her quick wit and talent ever since she burst onto the scene in her Broadway debut at age 12 in High Society. Since then, she has gone on to star in numerous hit films like Pitch Perfect, Up in the Air, and Into the Woods. Her charismatic on-screen presence and down-to-earth charm have made her one of Hollywood’s most beloved actresses.
However, behind Kendrick’s infectious smile and bubbly persona, she has revealed that she struggled for years with an intense childhood fear – a fear so paralyzing that it followed her into adulthood.
In a vulnerable new interview, Kendrick disclosed that she had long been terrified of being buried alive. She traced the origins of this phobia back to her childhood, when she would have frequent nightmares about being trapped underground and running out of air.
“I used to have these really vivid dreams that I was buried alive in a box and trying to scratch my way out before I ran out of oxygen,” she confessed. “I would wake up screaming and crying, absolutely terrified.”
As a child, Kendrick was plagued by an overactive imagination and anxiety. The thought of being buried alive seemed vividly real in her mind. She would obsessively think about how she would desperately gasp for breath as the walls closed in on her in a dark, claustrophobic coffin.
“Those dreams really shook me to my core and made me feel so vulnerable,” she said. “I was maybe 8 or 9 years old when the buried alive nightmares started. They continued for years.”
The nightmares fueled a phobia of tight, enclosed spaces for Kendrick. She dreaded closets, elevators, and even public bathrooms. Any small space would trigger panic attacks that left her struggling for air. She describes the feeling like having an “anvil on your chest.”
“I just had this overwhelming sense of doom,” she said. “I felt like the walls were going to crash down on me and I was going to die.”
Too afraid to admit her strange phobia to her friends, Kendrick suffered in silence for years. She avoided situations that caused anxiety. In school, she would never use the bathroom during class – she’d wait until she got home just to avoid confined stalls. At friends’ houses, she wouldn’t go in their closets to hang up her coat.
“I had these bizarre little rituals to get through the day without losing it,” she admitted.
The buried alive nightmares even followed Kendrick into her teen years. She says she woke up gasping for breath in a panic on a regular basis well into high school. Too embarrassed to tell her parents, she internalized the fear.
Finally, at age 17, Kendrick finally confessed to her mother after a particularly terrifying nightmare left her hysterical.
“I woke up and ran to my mom crying,” Kendrick recalled. “I admitted what I had been struggling with for so many years. Saying it out loud brought me so much relief.”
With the support of her mother, Kendrick began seeing a therapist who helped her get to the root of her phobia. Turns out, an overactive childhood imagination coupled with a few scary movies had planted the seed. Therapy gave her tools to control anxiety.
“I realized a lot of my fear was irrational,” she said. “I had let my imagination run wild. Talking through it helped me change my thought patterns.”
Cognitive behavioral therapy proved helpful, as did hypnosis and meditation sessions focused on conquering claustrophobic thoughts. Slowly, Kendrick began facing situations that had previously triggered panic attacks.
“I’d sit in a closet for 5 minutes, then 10 minutes, then 20 minutes – until I felt more comfortable,” she explained.
Over time, the therapy helped retrain Kendrick’s brain to think rationally rather than spiral anxiously. She still feels occasional pangs of claustrophobia, but nothing like those paralyzing childhood terrors.
“I’m able to recognize irrational thoughts now and not let them consume me,” she shared. “I have tools to calm myself down.”
Looking back, Kendrick says the buried alive dreams were her psyche’s way of manifesting deeper issues like anxiety and lack of control. With therapy, she was able to get at the root cause and find healing.
Today, she hopes being open about her experience helps others.
“Everybody has something that irrationally scares them,” she said. “I want people to know they’re not alone in dealing with fears or anxiety disorders. The most important thing is asking for help rather than living limited by fear.”
Kendrick says confronting her phobia head-on empowered her and gave her a new lease on life.
“I feel so much freer now,” she declared. “I can actually enjoy small spaces and embrace moments that used to terrify me. I don’t take breathing fresh air for granted anymore. Therapy gave me my life back.”
Though traces of claustrophobia may always remain for Kendrick, she chooses not to let those irrational childhood fears define her any longer.
“That trapped, scared little girl is still inside me somewhere,” she said. “But I don’t give her power anymore.”
