Andie MacDowell Opens Up About the Time She Suffered Panic Attack After Seeing Only Men On Set
When men and women are treated differently, it can be really hard to comprehend—especially for women, and especially if it’s obvious that men are being treated in a better light. That feeling is not lost on Hollywood stars.
Actress and model Andie MacDowell recently shared in an interview with Marie Claire that the mere sight of seeing only men on a set one time caused her to suffer a panic attack.
It was during a 2016 filming, and it was right after Donald Trump had gotten elected president, so that wasn’t helping the cause. She noticed that she was the only woman on set and it did something physical to her…really physical.
“I had this kind of crazy experience, right after Trump got elected,” MacDowell recalled in the interview. “I was really disturbed that nobody seemed to care about the vagina[-grabbing] comment; I had gotten really sad. I went to do a job, a day’s work, and I had my very first panic attack. I was getting ready to shoot something, and I turn around and it’s, like, a roomful of men. Like, a sea of men. It flashed on something that was personal for me. And I dropped to my knees.”
She further explained that in order to recover, she had to go to the bathroom and give herself a pep talk. “I left the room, and went into this fake bathroom on the set, and looked at myself in the mirror and said, ‘Get your sh*t together,’” she said.
Further clarifying her feelings, MacDowell said that she has nothing against men. It’s just that she would’ve felt more comfortable knowing that more women were on set with her. “It just freaked me out, not seeing any other women,” she explained. “It’s not that I have anything against men. I don’t! I just don’t like big groups of them.”
She said that the whole situation made her hyper-aware of the ratio of men to women on sets. “Since then, I’ve become very conscious of looking around and finding the women on set. For comfort,” she said.
Just one year after she had her panic attack, the #MeToo social movement against sexual abuse, sexual harassment, and rape culture was proclaimed, where people share their sexual abuse or sexual harassment experiences with the world.
In the video below, MacDowell participated in a “Because I’m worth it” L’Oréal Paris video series, each of which delivers a message by spokespeople that everyone has a story of their own journey of self-worth.
Listen to her message below for words that just might make you feel better if you ever find yourself in a situation like she did!
Have you ever had a strong reaction to something the way MacDowell has? What do you think of her message?