Ellen Barkin: 'I was terrified of auditions'

Ellen Barkin has revealed that she was too frightened to audition for acting roles for more than a decade.

During an interview on Piers Morgan Tonight, the CNN host asked the Emmy-winning actress if she now laughs at those who doubted her talent.

Barkin admitted: "It makes me laugh now, but I do have to say there were ten years between the age of 15 and maybe 25 that it didn't make me laugh. I was unable to go for an audition until I was 25 years old and [yet] I was studying acting regularly through high school and college, but I couldn't audition for anything."

Barkin also suggested that being faced with constant rejection at such an early age dealt a severe blow to her self-confidence.

"[The critics] completely crushed me… At 15, you're young. You're not formed. You're only just finding out who you are barely," she said.

Another Happy Day, in which Barkin co-stars with Demi Moore, is released later this year.

> Ellen Barkin joins NBC's A Mann's World
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Watch Ellen Barkin discuss her fear of auditioning with Piers Morgan below: