Arachnaphobic Eva Mendes

Sep 15, 2008, 4:00 GMT

09/11/2008 - Eva Mendes and Meg Ryan - The Cinema Society and Nars Host a Screening of "The Women" - Arrivals - AMC Loews 19th Street - New York City, NY, USA © Sylvain Gaboury / PR Photos

Eva Mendes used to force people to kill spiders because she was so scared of them.

'The Women' actress suffered from arachnophobia - a profound fear of spiders - as a child and was so terrified of the eight-legged nasties she would ask her family to execute them if one came near her.

She would then insist on being shown the "dead carcass" of the arachnid to prove her wishes has been carried out.

Eva said: "Spiders scare me a lot, ever since I was a little girl. If I ever saw one I would have a physical reaction and just freak out. I was a real arachnophobe. I was like that up until about a year ago.

"If I saw a spider I would have to have somebody kill it and even then I could not take their word for it. I would have to see the dead carcass before I could relax."

The 34-year-old actress - who admits her fear became so bad she would not even sleep in a room if she had seen a spider there - decided to visit a hypnotherapist to overcome the phobia.

She said: "There was no swaying clock or anything like that - so I was disappointed by that. I do not know what she did but it really helped because now I will see one and I will be cool with it."

Eva added she was so pleased with the outcome of the treatment she is contemplating re-visiting her hypnotist.

She joked: "Now I want to do it for everything. I was thinking can she help me with road rage or snacking or foul language? It is amazing."