Amanda Peet pulls back the curtain on life under the spotlight.
The 54-year-old actress called Hollywood nothing but “smoke and mirrors.”
“It’s ridiculous,” Pete told Fox News Digital when asked about the “biggest misconception” of stars having “perfect lives” in Hollywood. “It’s smoke and mirrors. there is no one there There There. I mean you name the axiom, it applies to us. This is frustration galore. ‘what are they doing there? Why don’t I have that? Why don’t I look like that?’ This is the bad part.”
She added, “In Hollywood, it’s hard – I would just call it awkward. It’s competitive, and it’s really hard to get out of that kind of competitive mentality where there’s a very small piece of cheese on the island and there’s a lot of people going after it.”
The “Something’s Gotta Give” actress said aging in a youth-obsessed industry isn’t easy, either.
“I’m older, so I have a lot more peace about it, but it’s really hard to find, and if you’re lucky enough to have something, it’s hard not to chase your own enthusiasm, and instead, just be like, ‘What do I really want to do when my alarm goes off in the morning? What do I want to do? Is this what I really want to do? Is this really helpful or useful to anyone?'”
Pete is starring in the second season of Apple TV’s “Your Friends & Neighbors,” premiering Friday, April 3 with a new episode each week through June 5.
He added that fans can expect “a lot” from season 2.
“Then there’s also the issue of this secret life of Cop,” Pete said of Jon Hamm’s character, who plays her ex-husband on the show.
“And I think this season, a lot of people are starting to get the sense that something is going on with Coop,” she continued. “And so it becomes more dangerous for him to keep doing what he’s doing, which is incredibly exciting. And then (his character) Mel and Coop are still kind of like this, right? They’re very irritated with each other, but they still want to have a relationship with each other. So yeah, it’s really a big mess all along.”
Peet said she also appreciated the storyline where her character deals with going into menopause, which is cathartic for her.
“It was very difficult to be able to put my own menopause-related frustrations and anger into a proper situation, namely acting as a character rather than my own life,” Pete revealed.
The actress has also been open about her breast cancer diagnosis, which she announced earlier this month.
He told Fox News Digital that when he first heard the news, his thoughts were filled with “panic.”
“My children and terror,” she admitted.
Pete said he decided not to tell his dying mother “because she hadn’t been well for so long, you know, it was just clear that I, you know, if she was able to understand, I wouldn’t want to scare her.”
“So, it wasn’t a hard decision, it was hard in a more global way because I was so close to her my whole life.”
Peet revealed her breast cancer diagnosis in a New Yorker essay last Saturday, saying she’s at Stage I and won’t need chemotherapy, but will have to undergo a lumpectomy and radiation.
