Olivia Colman sought help of hypnotherapist after wetting herself on stage

Olivia Colman has revealed she once wet herself while suffering from serious stage fright, and has sought the help of a hypnotherapist to tackle the issue.

The Crown star shared in a National Theatre: Life in Stages interview that she battles the nerves before stepping on stage and also gets such “terrible giggles” that she fears she will have an accident.

On one occasion she laughed so much while performing with David Mitchell that it did actually happen.

Discussing her "massive fear" of starring on the stage, Colman told interviewer Rufus Norris: "That moment just before the lights go down, I just think, ‘I f****** hate this job, I hate myself, I’m going to vomit or I’m going to wee’.”

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Saying she also got the giggles, she went on: "That is also a fear in the back of my head, that I could laugh so much, I will pee myself on stage.

“But I did do it once, on a raked stage (a sloped stage). My entire bladder emptied and it just went towards the audience in the front row.”

Colman, 47, said she saw a hypnotherapist “to try and come up with some tools to stop being quite so petrified”.

She told director Norris: "I worry though as getting older and slightly more recognisable, the fear that all of these people will watch when you f*** it up and [say], ‘Ah, she did it wrong’ or ‘We went to see that person that we’ve seen on the telly – she’s not as good on stage’.”

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Colman is known for TV shows such as Peep Show and Fleabag and her film credits include The Iron Lady and The Favourite.

Her last theatre role was in Mosquitoes in 2017.

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