Playing Lady Macbeth gave Marion Cotillard panic attacks

New York: French actress Marion Cotillard says she had panic attacks while shooting for "Macbeth".

The 39-year-old Academy award-winning actress, who stars as Lady Macbeth opposite Michael Fassbender in the titular role in the feature film adaptation of the Shakespeare play, said she pushed to her complete physical and mental limits for the role, reported New York Post.

"When I start a movie I usually freak out ... This time it was pretty physical and intense. Panic attacks ... I never had panic attacks before. What was funny is I didn't know what a panic attack was, but I had studied it for the role I did before (in 'Two Days, One Night')."

The mother of one feels playing a role like Lady Macbeth is equal to living a nightmare. "When (I had one) I knew exactly what it was and I was like, 'Are you kidding me? Am I having a panic attack?!' But I just had to accept I would freak out the whole shoot long.

"That was not very comfortable, but you don't expect to be comfortable playing Lady Macbeth... You make the choice of living a nightmare and you deal with it," she said.