Sissy Spacek: fasting, meditation, tough girls, the state of ‘adagio’ and no regrets...

Everything that I touch at the moment doesn’t turn to gold, but it does seem to have a ‘raw’ message. This is from a 1977 issue of the fashion magazine 19 that I picked up in a junk shop ...

'A year ago, Sissy never even got a second glance from anyone, but now Sissy has definitely hit the big time ... So what does she do? Does she buy a purple Rolls Royce? A San Simeon mansion in Beverly Hills? No ... she goes on a fast! “It’s true,” she said. “I felt I had to remove myself from the pressures which built up with the sudden success. I didn’t know a better way of doing it than going on a fast ...

Fasting is great because it allows you to eliminate all the physical impurities from your body. But, as far as I’m concerned, the mental cleansing is far more important. After several days of fasting, your mind becomes so clear and clean. In the process, your senses are heightened too ...

The most interesting aspect of the fast is the insight which develops. It allows you to examine yourself and your problems. Amazingly, you’re able to recall incidents from your childhood which you thought long since forgotten ... The confrontation of past with present gives you a new understanding in dealing with your daily life ...

I often went on fasts for several days during the shooting of Carrie ... When the rest of the cast ate, I meditated. I never studied under a guru or anyone like that. I picked it all up from books. Like exercise, meditation helps me a lot during a fast. But I also meditate whether I am fasting or not. Forty minutes a day ... meditation has a very soothing effect upon my nervous system and combats the strains and stresses which seem to accompany this sort of profession ...

There are a lot of tough girls out there in the world fighting to make a name for themselves and to get recognised. They’re trying very hard to escape from the crowd of anonymity. Sure, some are actresses, but they are in other professions too. These girls are in an emotional rage, but they don’t always know why ... Thankfully, I was never so completely consumed by my career that I couldn’t see other choices, other exits ...

I believe that life is a sort of game where you may succeed or again you may not. But you have to live it in a state of ‘adagio’ – complete relaxation which allows you full communication to better achieve your goals. I never pushed as hard as I might and not for a moment do I regret it”’.