Celebrity Anxieties and Phobias

From A - Z we list what gets the rich and famous quaking in their designer boots, other than not being recognised obviously...

A

Tennis champ and Mr. Brook Shields ANDRE AGASSI is apparently afraid of spiders.

Film director and actor WOODY ALLEN claims to have morbid fears of insects, sunshine, dogs, children, heights, small rooms, crowds, cancer and any place on earth outside Manhattan. He originally wanted to call "Annie Hall" 'Anhedonia' - the inability to feel pleasure.

"Baywatch" star PAMELA ANDERSON says she has a phobia: "I don't like mirrors".

B

Charlie's Angel DREW BARRYMORE is said to suffer from claustrophobia - the fear of confined spaces.

"8 Mile" and "L.A. Confidential" star KIM BASINGER is afraid of open spaces (agoraphobia).

"Lord of the Rings" elf ORLANDO BLOOM has a fear of pigs. He's also very accident-prone: "I have to admit I've broken my back, my ribs, my nose, both my legs, my arm, my wrist, a finger and a toe and cracked my skull three times."

Our very own "Angel" star DAVID BOREANAZ is claustrophobic, and has a fear of heights, waterfalls - "You just want to jump in", he says, "they're really scary" - and fish - "They're scaly, if they come too close I have to swim away." More appropriately for a vampire, his favourite band is Grateful Dead!

C

'N Sync singer JC has a fear of needles which is why he's the only member of the band who doesn't have a tattoo.

Former "Home Alone" star MACAULAY CULKIN is said to suffer from agoraphobia and has panic attacks when he's forced to leave his New York apartment.

 

D

Screen pirate JOHNNY DEPP is afraid of spiders, ghosts, and clowns (clourophobia). He says, "There's something about the painted face and the fake smile. There seems to be a darkness lurking under the surface, a potential for real evil".

E

Former "Baywatch" lifeguard CARMEN ELECTRA can't swim and has a phobia about water: "I get terrified anywhere near it and have a panic attack".

F

Blonde Abba star AGNETHA FALTSKOG is afraid of heights, crowds, flying and open spaces. She continues to live as virtual recluse on the remote island of Ekero off the coast of Sweden.

"Minority Report" hell raiser COLIN FARRELL is afraid of flying and he's not alone: KYM MARSH, HOLLY VALANCE, JENNIFER ANISTON and WHOOPI GOLDBERG share the problem.

Soul Diva ARETHA FRANKLIN is afraid of flying (aviophobia). She reportedly refuses to travel on aeroplanes, even for concerts on the other side of the country.

Father of psychiatry SIGMUND FREUD had a morbid fear of ferns. Does that include FERN BRITTON?

G

Gap-toothed pop star GARETH GATES has a fear of bats.

"Buffy" star SARAH MICHELLE GELLER has a phobia of graveyards. A fake graveyard had to be built from Season 2 onwards as she won't film in real ones if possible.

Child actor RUPERT GRINT, Ron Weasley in the "Harry Potter" films, has a big fear of spiders: "The scenes in Spiders Hollow were particularly scary", says Grint. "When I saw Aragog (an enormous ancient spider who lives in the Dark Forest) for the first time, I wasn't acting - I was genuinely scared!"

H

Ex-mermaid DARYL HANNAH suffers from agoraphobia - fear of open spaces, a fact she kept secret for many years fearing it might ruin her career.

As well as a morbid fear of death, thriller-meister ALFRED HITCHCOCK had a fear of eggs (ovaphobia). "He hated eggs, unless they were disguised in a soufflé," Hitchcock's daughter, Patricia O'Connell, told the Chicago Tribune in 1993. "He just said they were so horrible-looking - that you'd cut into them and that yellow stuff would run all over. He thought it was absolutely disgusting."

 

J

"Eight-legged Freaks star SCARLETT JOHANNSEN is not afraid of spiders - but she is afraid of cockroaches - not surprising since she once woke up to find one on her face.

K

Omnipresent NICOLE KIDMAN is afraid of acting! "It's weird", says the ex Mrs. Cruise, "because every time I start a film I think, `I can't act'. I've tried to pull out of almost every one I've done because of sheer terror. I can always come up with a list of actresses who would be better, and try to convince the director to cast someone else by showing the list."

L

Country singer-songwriter (and ex-Mr. Julia Roberts) LYLE LOVETT is afraid of cows. In 2002 he was mauled by a bull on his ranch, and had surgery to repair his right leg. M

MADONNA (full name MADONNA LOUISE VERONICA CICCONE) suffers from Brontophobia - not a fear of large dinosaurs, but a fear of thunder.

"Contact" and "U-571" actor MATTHEW McCONAUGHEY has a phobia of revolving doors and tunnels.

Model and actress NELL MCANDREW has a fear of spiders and snakes which didn't stop her taking part in 2002's TV show "I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here!", set in the Australian Rainforest.

Spiderman TOBEY MAGUIRE doesn't suffer from arachnophobia, but admits to a fear of heights, according to USA Today!

Former 007 SIR ROGER MOORE is afraid of guns! "The only acting I ever did was trying not to blink because as soon as I pick up a gun I start blinking," said Moore at a 1993 UNICEF fund-raiser.

N

"Star Wars" and "Schindler's List" actor LIAM NEESON has a fear of heights - which is tough when you're 6'4!

 

O

Rock child KELLY OSBOURNE has a phobia about personal contact. According to brother Jack: "All you have to do is just touch her collarbone. It's awesome, she starts dry-retching." Kelly's response? "Shut up!"

P

Comedian NORMAN PACE has a fear of crocodiles: "I have a grudging respect for them because they've actually survived on Earth over 200 million years, they outlasted the dinosaurs, so they're a huge evolutionary success. Why? How can a floating log with teeth be so successful and the answer is because they're terrifying. I blame Peter Pan". Actor and martial arts expert RAY PARKS aka DARTH MAUL in "Star Wars", has a fear of spiders and other crawling insects - and yet one of his personal hobbies is breathing fire! Former "Catwoman" MICHELLE PFEIFFER suffers from hydrophobia - the fear of water; so she was extremely brave to star in "What Lies Beneath!" But then again, she allegedly earned $10,500,000 for the role, so…!

R

"Matrix" revolutionary KEANU REEVES is afraid of the dark.

"Addams Family" star CHRISTINA RICCI is afraid that a shark might swim through a hatch into the swimming pool. She is also afraid of ghosts, gerbils and houseplants: "They're dirty. If I have to touch one after already being repulsed by the fact that there's one indoors - it just freaks me out."

"Interview with a Vampire" author ANNE RICE (real name Howard Allen O'Brien - really!) has stated that she's afraid of the dark.

S

Singer RACHEL STEVENS has said that her secret phobia is toilets. "I have a problem with locking the door. If there is no window in the toilet, then I have a bit of a problem," she said.

 

 

T

UMA THURMAN said she suffered from claustrophobia when filming the scene in "Kill Bill 2" where she is buried alive in a coffin: "There was no acting required, real screams available. It was horrific. You don't want to have that experience!"

JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE is afraid of sharks, snakes, spiders - and dying unloved (by BRITNEY?).

Five times married and divorced BILLY BOB THORNTON has phobias of bright colours (chromaphobia) antiques, silver cutlery, water (hydrophobia) and flying (aviophobia). He also apparently refuses to say his childrens' names out loud for fear of cursing them!



V

Danish filmmaker LARS VON TRIER has a phobia about almost every form of travel. The year that Von Trier won the Palm D'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, he only made the trip in a specially outfitted trailer. "Basically, I'm afraid of everything in life, except filmmaking."

W

Pop artist ANDY WARHOL had a morbid fear of hospitals - perhaps because of being shot by in the stomach and lungs by actress Valerie Solanas, after which he was hospitalised for 2 months.

American playwright TENNESSEE WILLIAMS had a deep-seated fear of madness.

Talk show queen OPRAH WINFREY has a phobia of chewing gum that stems from her childhood. In contrast, her idea of heaven "is a great big baked potato and someone to share it with."

Actress NATALIE WOOD suffered from hydrophobia - the fear of water. She went onto die from accidental drowning.