In Alice Liveing's latest Give Me Strength podcast, the 'Gentleman Jack' actress admits that the scary moment of her passing out during a West End play taught her to listen more to her body and mind.
- April 18, 2020
AceShowbiz - Actress Suranne Jones suffered a series of hallucinations before collapsing on stage during a West End play.
The "Gentleman Jack" and "Doctor Foster" star had to withdraw from "Frozen", in which she portrayed the mother of a murdered girl, after passing out during a performance in 2018, and in Alice Liveing's latest Give Me Strength podcast, the British star detailed the events that led up to the scary moment.
"It was a very lonely play," she said. "I was doing that and prepping for 'Gentleman Jack' and I didn't know how strong I had to be. I wanted to change my body to be slightly more masculine around the shoulders."
"I was getting up in the morning to play with my son really early and then I'd go to rehearsals the other side of town. Then do a full day of rehearsals - my character cried a lot and was in trauma throughout the whole piece. Then I would get home and do a couple of French lessons and come and see you (Liveing) at the gym three times a week and I was just over-stretching myself."
"I cried on the rowing machine once because I was so tired. I was doing too much. It was not being able to let go of anything. People didn't understand what I'm going through. What I wasn't saying is, 'I don't think I'm being the best mother, I'm really sad that my mum died and I'm living this f**king trauma every night on stage that's really messing me up', and I was just knackered."
Suranne lost her mother months after giving birth to her first child in 2016.
"I had a collapse because I wasn't listening to my body," she added. "I had hallucinations, episodes, where I started to see things, because my body was shutting down. I'd done 90 shows. The pressure got to me until I collapsed in front of an audience... I couldn't see. My vision had gone. It was really scary."
The breakdown forced Jones to take her mental health more seriously and tackle her anxiety issues - she took a year off, started doing yoga, and signed up for therapy.
"You have to listen to yourself and body and mind and take care of yourself," she said.
