Gina Rodriguez thought she was "going to die" the first time she suffered a panic attack.
The 34-year-old actress has revealed she experienced her first major anxiety episode after she became famous for her role as Jane Villanueva in The CW comedy-drama series, ‘Jane the Virgin’.
The Chiacgo-born star was eating out at a sushi place, when she started to get paranoid that people were looking at her.
She told the February issue of Cosmopolitan Magazine: "The anxiety stated coming, like, two years into ‘Jane’.
"[I] had my first panic attack at a sushi restaurant.
"All of a sudden, I thought I was going to die, and people are taking pictures. It was horrendous."
Though Gina struggled with the intense spotlight at first, she has come to accept the downsides that comes with being famous.
She explained: "There are a lot things in the manual of living out your dreams that you don’t know about.
"Like you don’t have any more friends.
"You never go out to eat. You never see your family, your boyfriend, girlfriend, or whatever you have.
"It’s interesting. As a performer, you have to quite literally bury your life.
"Every day on-set I’m like, How the hell did I get this lucky?
"To live out your dreams is a really surreal experience."
The ‘Deepwater Horizon’ star also opened up about her battle with low self-esteem and how she has learned to love her body.
She admitted: "I felt very alone growing up.
"I didn’t feel represented. I didn’t feel a part of the conversation.
"And if you see yourself projected, you believe you are worthy, valuable."
Gina is no longer fearful of not looking her best and is proud to be able to represent her fellow Latina women – who she feels are underrepresented in Hollywood.
She said: "I let go of the anxiety and the fear of not looking beautiful. Because it’s not about the picture. It’s about the fact that I stand on this cover with every Latina who wished she saw herself reflected.
"Because it’s not my face – it’s the 55-million-plus girls who are like, ‘Holy s***! We belong.’"
Gina Rodriguez recalls ‘horrendous’ first panic attack
