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For actor Amy Adams, turning 40 was a bit of a milestone. But reaching the fourth decade in her life didn’t come easy for the superstar. Despite all of her accomplishments at that age, Adams couldn’t help feel unfulfilled.

Amy Adams received her breakthrough role when she turned 30

Amy Adams at the 'Disenchanted' premiere.
Amy Adams | Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic

Acting has always been a part of Adams’ life in some capacity. Before breaking into Hollywood, she mostly performed in musical theater as a dancer. Eventually, the actor would go to L.A. on a whim to work on a film.

Enjoying the experience, she would then try her hand with the film industry. But initially, things weren’t going as planned. She wasn’t getting the kind of roles she wanted, which briefly took the fun out of acting.

“I was too consumed with the ins and outs of my career as opposed to enjoying the work,” she once said in an interview with MovieMaker.

This changed, however, after she snatched her role in Jungebug. She’d gotten the role just in time, as she was entering the third decade of her life when doing so.

“For me, as an actress, my personal breakthrough was Junebug,” she said. “It was the year when I learned that I wasn’t willing to be unhappy to be an actress. I was turning 30 that year, and I was thinking, ‘What do I want? This is my life.'”

Why Amy Adams was disappointed in herself when she turned 40

Adams had accomplished a lot in the years leading up to her turning 40. Her 30s were filled with notable movies like Enchanted, The Fighter, Her and many more. But personally, Adams didn’t feel she was in the emotional head-space she thought she should’ve been in when she hit 40.

“I was like, ‘I’m 40 and I still care what people think of me; I still don’t do laundry so I’m always out of things; I’m just not a grown-up at all,'” Adams once told Vogue. “And I had this expectation that I would be by this age. It wasn’t, ‘Oh, I’m getting old and I’m going to lose something vibrant about myself.’ It was more that I was just…so disappointed with myself.”

But after regaining her bearings, Adams took something valuable from her brief breakdown.

“You need to appreciate your life,” she continued. “Every time I get stressed out or anxious, I say to myself: just live and love. Feel love. I think that’s what I took away from my turning-40 meltdown.”

Amy Adams once shared turning 40 was like meeting a new person everyday

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After turning 40, Adams hasn’t been too concerned with how her career will change after getting older. Although speaking to The Times, she did once joke that “hopefully, I can continue acting as my face continues to fall south.”

The actor felt that facial changes became more apparent after hitting 40. But it was an experience she felt people simply had to get accustomed to.

“Once you turn 40, you begin to meet a new person in the mirror every morning. I say, ‘Oh hello. I know you.’ You can repair yourself, but it takes a little longer,” she said.