Amy Adams Once Had a Temporary Breakdown in a Film That Made Her Question Her Life Choices
Actor Amy Adams has put in a lot of effort to obtain the Hollywood career that she currently enjoys. But even after all of her success, there was one film she starred in that made the actor reevaluate her position in life.
Amy Adams was unhappy as an actor before her breakthrough role
Acting had always been a passion for Adams from a young age. The Man of Steel star honed her talents in the arts doing musical theater. But eventually she decided to go to Los Angeles on a whim after doing one of her first features.
“I worked on a film, Drop Dead Gorgeous, and I had a really good time. It coincided with a pulled muscle, and I was tired from eight shows a week. So I thought, ‘Well, maybe I’ll go to L.A. for a little while and see how it goes,'” she once said in an interview with MovieMaker.
Her persistence led to a starring role in the movie Catch Me If You Can alongside Leonardo DiCaprio. But even after snagging a relatively high-profile movie, Adams’ career wasn’t progressing the way she hoped. Disappointed, Adams started reconsidering her career options before she was cast in her breakthrough role in Junebug.
“For me, as an actress, my personal breakthrough was Junebug. 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,'” she said.
Amy Adams couldn’t stop crying in a film that made her second-guess her life choices
Adams once found herself starring in the 2008 dark comedy feature Sunshine Cleaning directed by Christine Jeffs. She acted alongside her co-star Emily Blunt as two underachieving sisters who find work cleaning up crime scenes for a living.
According to a 2008 interview Adams did with Newsweek, it was one of the first darker roles that Adams tackled. But it was one that took an emotional toll on her. So much so she began reflecting on her own career path.
“I was thinking about one of the days where the camera stopped rolling and I just could not stop crying,” she said about her time on set. “It was a point at which the character was being honest about herself and what she was and wasn’t. It really struck a chord. Am I doing it right?”
Adams briefly wondered if the accomplishments she was achieving in Hollywood mattered if she didn’t feel fulfilled in other areas of her life.
“I don’t think all success and failure is judged by a career. I’m not married. I don’t have children. Sometimes I wish I read more books than scripts,” she said. “Did I choose the right road?”
Amy Adams felt a lot happier with herself after becoming a mother
Adams would eventually both get married and give birth to a child. As is the case with many new parents, raising a child proved challenging for the actor that required many readjustments. But the benefits of motherhood far outweighed its challenges.
“I’m really enjoying it,” Adams once said in an interview with Stylist. “I’m not as clever as I once was, I forget words… They say ‘baby brain’ is just a temporary thing… Is it? I’m afraid to make any big life decisions at this point. I’ve not had eight hours’ sleep in over a year, which I’m sure many people can empathize with, but you know, I really, really like it. I don’t feel like it’s a big sacrifice – I feel much happier with myself and other people since having a child.”
