Ariel Winter Reveals How She Copes With Anxiety (Exclusive)

The 20-year-old actress tells ET that the 'paparazzi is kind of really getting on my last nerve.'

Ariel Winter says she's trying to create some much-needed space between herself and the limelight. 

ET's Katie Krause spoke with the 20-year-old actress at the premiere of her new movie, The Last Movie Star, in Los Angeles on Thursday, where she opened up about going through highs and lows in Hollywood, and why she's felt the need to take a break from the spotlight. 

"One day you did something great, and the next day you're like plastered as a thousand other things," Winter said. "It's a really difficult industry." 

"I mean, we're blessed to be in [it], and be able to make content that we love and that other people love, but it's also an industry. It is true. it builds you up, and it can tear you down just as fast," she added. 

Winter -- who has been the subject of headlines over the last few years for topics ranging from her clothing choices to her relationship with boyfriend Levi Meade -- said that the key to managing her own career in Hollywood is to "stay out of the spotlight as much as possible." 

"Having every little aspect of your life in the public eye, it's really hard, because it gives more room for criticism, and I just want to live," she insisted. "So I think I try and stay out of it as much as possible, unless I need to be in it." 

"I don't really go anywhere to be seen or anything like that. I'll go to a red carpet, if I'm in [the movie], or if I'm supporting my boyfriend or my friends. But otherwise I usually just stay home," Winter continued. "Paparazzi is kind of really getting on my last nerve." 

Winter also opened up about feeling moments of anxiety, sharing that she's frustrated with the "misconception" that people with money and fame don't deal with mental illness. The actress tweeted about how anxiety was "the worst" last November. 

"I think everybody [deals with anxiety] to a certain extent... I feel like people need to understand that everybody has anxiety or depression, or has something, and it's not a person being broken or having a fault. It's just life," she said, before revealing how she deals with her own struggles. "You try to center yourself in reality and talk to people that love you... I go to therapy, and I think therapy is great." 

"Therapy is for everyone, it's awesome," she said. "[And] staying out of the limelight when I don't have to be is also nice. It really like, puts you back in your life." 

The Last Movie Star hits theaters on March 30. 

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