'I didn't want to live on drugs': Kim Basinger talks about dealing with anxiety, her long career and raising model daughter Ireland

PUBLISHED: 13:51 EST, 11 December 2013 | UPDATED: 15:45 EST, 11 December 2013

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Many actresses find it difficult to land a part once they hit 30 in a business that prizes young women.

But Kim Basinger, who turned 60 three days ago, appears to be ramping up her 35-year career.

'I've been so blessed because I've had such longevity. I'm not a big red-carpet girl. But I love the work,' the blonde beauty says in the December 23 edition of People.

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People person: Kim Basinger, 60, opened up about her career and raising daughter Ireland to People magazine

'In this business you can be at the top of the world and at the bottom of the barrel, and you're grape juice. I've been at both ends. It can make you become what you really are.'

It's hard to imagine the successful star struggling with anxiety, but she admits there was a period in her life where she relied on medication to get her through the day.

'Now I wake up and enjoy life. I didn't want to live on drugs. I wanted to face everything I was afraid of.'

Mini-me: Ireland, 18, looked the image of her mother in a selfie she posted in September

And she proved that she can conquer her fears by going skydiving recently. 'Falling 12,500 feet out of an airplane was exhilarating!' she says.

In her next movie she co-stars with Sylvester Stallone and Robert De Niro in The Grudge Match about two aging boxing rivals who are are coaxed out of retirement to fight one final bout - 30 years after their last match. The comedy is due out December 25 in the US and January 24 in the UK.

The blonde, whose radiant looks belie her age, is busier than ever, which is just as well since she is now an empty-nester after recently helping her model daughter Ireland, 18, move into her own apartment.

Walking tall: The statuesque model towered over her mother on their trip to a pumpkin patch in October

The gorgeous 6ft 1in teen, Kim's daughter with ex-husband Alec Baldwin, towers over her 5ft 6in mother.

Kim tells People she endeavored to give Ireland as normal a childhood as possible.

'She grew up in the limlight but I tried to provide stability and a quieter world,' she says.

Of her choice to become a model, she says: 'I think she wanted to stick her foot in and see what it would bring. And she's doing extremely well.

No trouble getting parts: Kim with Sylvester Stallone in The Grudge Match, due to hit cinemas on Christmas day

'You just want them to follow their own path, and she totally did this on her own.'

Kim is presently filming Unborn, about an infertile woman who delves into the world of infant prostitution in Eastern Europe after trying to adopt a child, which is due out next year.

Her last movie, director Paul Haggis's Third Person, in which she stars with Liam Neeson, James Franco and Mila Kunis, debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival In September.

Grrrr. Sylvester Stallone back in the ring for Grudge Match

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Madeleine, Baltimore MD USA, 20 hours ago

Kim looks incredible! Can't believe she is 60! "Many actresses find it difficult to land a part once they hit 30 in a business that prizes young women." That is just not true, DM! Many actresses over 30 are getting roles: Angelina Jolie, Nicole KIdman, Jennifer Aniston, Jennifer Lopez, Jennifer Connelly, Julianne Moore, Sofia Vergara, etc. Now once an actress hits 40, that's when it gets tougher.