A lot of famous people have learned to master the art of hiding their vulnerabilities. Still, many are known to share similar anxieties and doubts with the general population. What’s more shocking is that none of these celebrities are above discussing their biggest fears.
Some phobias appear to defy logic and reason, making it exceptionally difficult for these celebrities to film specific movie scenes.
These celebrities, including The Batman’s Robert Pattinson, have some of the most unusual phobias, ranging from ostriches to animated food.
6 Robert Pattinson Is Deathly Afraid Of Being Crushed By A Horse
Robert Pattinson appears to have some similarities with his ex-girlfriend Kristen Stewart. Pattinson, star of Twilight, has a profound dread of horses.
According to International Business Times, he made a confession while filming Water for Elephants. The actor said that his experiences with the animals, especially one particular occurrence, left him shaken.
“I had to get knocked down by a horse,” explained the Twilight star. “That was terrifying. It was just one split second, but it was a fully grown stallion. I’m kind of relatively scared of horses as well.”
Pattinson, who appears in the picture alongside Reese Witherspoon, acknowledged, though, that he did have some reason for relief. “I’m just glad I didn’t have to ride any of them,” he said. “I’m not particularly good at horse riding.”
Pattinson has stated in the past that working on Water for Elephants was a “completely foreign” experience compared to the “familiar” filming of Twilight. So, it turns out that vampires are acceptable, but horses are not.
5 Kristen Stewart Is Terrified Of Horses Due To A Childhood Injury
Many celebrities are horse enthusiasts due to the animal’s propensity to inspire serenity, but this couldn’t be more false for actress Kristen Stewart.
For her upcoming role in the highly anticipated film Snow White and the Huntsman, Stewart had to overcome a personal challenge that had plagued her since she was a young girl: a fear of horses.
“I hate ’em,” the actress, who suffered a riding injury as a child, said at WonderCon, per People. “I fell off a horse once and hurt myself really badly. I broke and dislocated my elbow when I was 9.”
Unfortunately, Kristen’s part in the adaptation of the classic movie requires her to participate in numerous action scenes on horseback. She expressed her distaste by saying, “I was really, really not happy about having to do all that horseback riding. I don’t like that. I hate that.”
Thankfully, Kristen was able to put her fears aside and complete filming without incident. “I just had to not think about it,” Stewart admitted. “I wanted so badly to do this that it was just like, ‘Alright, well, if I perish by horse, that’s all good.’”
4 Kyra Sedgwick Can’t Stand Being Around Talking Food
Your phobias can occasionally affect not just you but also those around you. Kyra Sedgwick recently admitted that she begged her husband, Kevin Bacon, to turn down a job because it would have forced her to confront a phobia.
Bacon shared that his wife is scared of talking food during their appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. He claims she has to leave the room if she sees commercials involving talking food.
Because of her fear, he turned down a lucrative offer to be in an M&M’s commercial.
“I thought about it, and I said I can’t do that to my wife because my marriage is more important,” he said on the show. “I really think she would’ve left me.”
It certainly sounds dramatic. However, Sedgwick elaborated on why she finds talking cartoon foods so repulsive.
“It makes me sick to my stomach when I see commercials where the Oreo slides down the cream slide. Just the cookie part or any anthropomorphizing of food,” she said. Bacon then inquired as to his wife’s opinion of the Pillsbury Doughboy, to which she responded, “So bad.”
According to Sedgwick, her fear of talking food is well-founded. It may be amusing to us, but it must be terrible to her. Though she lives luxuriously, being worth $16 million even before she got started in acting, there are some things out of her control.
3 Jake Gyllenhaal Developed A Phobia For Ostriches During Prince Of Persia
While filming Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, Jake Gyllenhaal acquired an aversion to ostriches. According to People, the actor spoke about his anxiety at the film’s London premiere in 2010.
“They would say, ‘Don’t make any noise around the ostriches. They’ll tear out your eyes and rip out your heart.’ So, I was naturally terrified,” he said at the premiere, per People. “They look like they’re innocent, but they’re really not.”
Gemma Arterton, Gyllenhaal’s co-star, could speak to his level of terror. “He was really scared,” she told People. “He ran away, and the look on his face… it’s not acting. It’s real.”
2 Matt Damon Cries At The Sight Of Snakes Due To His Longtime Phobia
While filming We Bought a Zoo in 2011, Matt Damon was confronted with his fear of snakes. Scarlett Johansson, one of his co-stars, said that seeing him “cry like a baby and rock back and forth when the snakes were spread all over the set” was the scariest part of filming.
Damon’s dread of the working animals was obvious, but Johansson’s familiarity with reptiles, cats, and horses came from early exposure.
“He was pretty terrified,” said Johansson at the New York premiere of the film. “He was definitely sweating a bit, and maybe the sweat formed in the corner of his eye. I said, ‘Matt, these kids are practically juggling the snakes. Hold it together.’”
Damon later recalled the experience, telling People, “I’m afraid of snakes. And I got bullied into interacting with them by Scarlett and the kids.”
Even worse, Damon told a terrifying tale about his last trip to Australia to see his pal Chris Hemsworth. In an interview with Ellen DeGeneres, he claimed to have trodden on an “8-foot python” while walking to the beach.
“I jumped off of it in my flip-flops, and it just kind of kept going.” Luckily, the snake was so big it “didn’t even really notice” what had happened.
1 Johnny Depp Is Petrified Of Clowns Despite His Many Clownish Roles
Clowns have apparently been a source of nightmares for Johnny Depp ever since he was a child. The well-known actor is deathly afraid of clowns and has been completely honest about his irrational dread of the creatures.
“There always seemed to be a darkness lurking just under the surface, a potential for real evil,” the actor explained of his fear, per The Guardian. “I guess I am afraid of them because it’s impossible (thanks to their painted-on smiles) to distinguish if they are happy or if they’re about to bite your face off.”
Ironic, given his penchant for starring in clownish roles in Tim Burton movies. Depp played the character of the Mad Hatter in Alice in Wonderland. Was he secretly flinching every time he passed a mirror in costume?