Claire Foy has recently shared insights into how her formative years shaped her perspective on life and why she once believed she might not live past the age of 40.
Many young people don’t typically ponder their mortality, a privilege that is often taken for granted. However, British actress Claire Foy had a different experience and discussed her contemplations on life and death in a recent interview.
Foy opened up about the challenges she faced during her childhood that led her to doubt she would live beyond 40 years.
In an interview with the Times, Claire Foy, who is 41 and acclaimed for her role as Queen Elizabeth in Netflix’s series “The Crown,” disclosed that she experienced several medical issues as a child.
She recounted that these health challenges left her in severe and debilitating pain on occasion and shaped her views on mortality.
Foy shared that her health issues included juvenile arthritis at the age of 13, necessitating the use of crutches, and the discovery of a benign tumor behind one eye at 17, which required surgery and steroid treatment.
She highlighted the societal taboo around discussing death.
Claire Foy remarked, “I mean, death? The fact we’re all on our way out? It’s something we just don’t want to think about while we’re alive. But I have thought about death my whole life.”
“I just presumed that it was going to happen, especially through my childhood,” she continued.
She elaborated: “My thing was that I was never going to make it past 40 – ever.”
“I have had many medical things in my life. But, yes, I’m still here and someone once told me, ‘You know, most people live?’ They meant most people live quite a long and lovely life. Well, not necessarily lovely. But people do tend to live. That’s what humans want to do. We want to survive, and that’s quite reassuring.”
Foy also expressed that before turning 40, her perspective on mortality instilled a sense of urgency in her approach to life.
She noted that understanding the possibility of dying young encouraged her to adopt the mindset of living each day as if it were her last.
Foy added: “Because I was ill when I was younger, I just thought, ‘Let’s crack on!’ And then, later, a panic sets in, that middle-class idea of what people are meant to do; have children, get to a certain stage in a job. That can be quite dangerous because you get used to momentous things happening all the time – big moments.”