WHEN ILEANA ‘ALIENATED’ PEOPLE
Actor Ileana D’Cruz likes that the world can get only ‘a little bit into her life’, as this way she can avoid the negativity that comes along
She was all of 18 when her acting career took off, leading her to stardom. But in the glamour industry, with fame comes some negativity. And sometimes, it is hard to take everything in your stride. Actor Ileana D’Cruz shares how she overcame depression and it was her husband, Andrew Kneebone, in fact, who encouraged Ileana to see a therapist when she started to fall into depression.
“Things had got so bad that I was pushing people away. I didn’t realise how much I was alienating people. I would constantly refuse to go out when friends would call. At one point, I didn’t realise I was at home for a week... After that, I got an ultimatum from him,” says Ileana.
Busy as she is, Ileana doesn’t let the fame get to her head, as she prioritises her family over work. The actor talks about maintaining a slow pace in her career, conquering depression, her marriage and the pregnancy rumours that keep doing the rounds. “I’m not pregnant. In fact, I would have been super happy if I was. It’s something I have always wanted. But there’s still time. I still don’t want to become pregnant yet,” says Ileana.
About the hullabaloo around her marriage, she adds, “It’s not important for me [to tell the world if I’m married or not]. I do tell the world about my equation in a way, and let the world [get] a little bit into my life. But I like it that way [only] because I hate the negativity that comes with it.” But, the actor adds that her experience in the industry has helped her understand how to let the negativity go.
“I’ve learned to live with it, as it has been a little over 12 years for me in the industry now. But it [trolling] is really not fair for so many other people... the families involved,” says the 31-year-old actor with Goan roots.
For her, a relationship is about restraint and respect. “There’s respect there,” she says, adding, “I had a different perception of what a relationship or love is like. I was all giddy-headed and fairy tale about it in my head, but it’s so different. There’s a lot of restraint that you’ve got to have, compromising in certain situations — and you’ve got to have a lot of respect.” Respect, in her checklist for a relationship, precedes trust and love. “I feel we have sort of evolved into that,” says Ileana about her relationship with her husband.