In her first interview in 14 years, actor Kim Basinger sat down with the hosts of Red Table Talk and her daughter, Ireland Baldwin, to discuss how her often crippling agoraphobia wreaked havoc upon her life. The 68-year-old Basinger said she was forced to relearn how to do everything while struggling with her condition.
“I wouldn’t leave the house,” Basinger told Red Table Talk hosts, Jada Pinkett Smith, Willow Smith, and Adrienne Banfield-Norris. “It’s like something just completely shuts down within you and you have to relearn everything.”
In the past, Basinger would describe herself as extremely shy, and during an episode of Inside the Actor’s Studio she admitted she would faint if asked to speak in school. She has always been perceived as publicity-shy, even during her high profile romance with ex-husband Alec Baldwin, but her avoidance of the public spotlight is made all the more understandable in light of her admission that she was struggling with even commonplace tasks.
“I had to relearn to drive,” she told the hosts. “For many years I would not go through the tunnels at Malibu. Everything used to make me nervous, like the [sliding] glass to open the door, or, ‘Where do I step to open the door?’ Everything became a big job to figure out how to do it.”
“You’re just so exhausted all the time,” Basinger explained to the table.
The full episode of Red Table Talk featuring Basinger and daughter Ireland will be available Wednesday at 12pm. on Facebook Watch.