EXCLUSIVE: Will & Grace star Debra Messing opens up about the terrifying moment a STALKER showed up at her New York home and tried to get inside to see her and her SON

Debra Messing has opened up about the terrifying moment when a male stalker attempted to break into her New York home, claiming he had been invited to spend the day with her and her child.

The 54-year-old Will & Grace star explained how the incident scared her in a “completely different way” as the stalker had mentioned her son when he tried to get in.

Debra recalled the incident on an episode of Trinny Woodall’s new podcast Fearlessin which she spoke candidly about suffering from “severe anxiety” and having a panic attack while walking through Times Square in Manhattan.

At one point during their conversation, 59-year-old Trinny asked her, “I want you to be very specific with me, what was the exact moment you were most scared in your life?”

Debra paused to take a deep breath and replied, “I think it was when I found out I had a stalker in New York and the police came because this guy showed up at my doorman’s house and he said I invited him and he was spending the day with me and Roman… he was referring to my son.

Speaking out: Debra admitted that the incident scared her in a ‘completely different way’ because the stalker had called her son Roman

Candid chat: Debra recalled the incident on an episode of Trinny Woodall’s new podcast called Fearless

“And that scared me in a completely different way, because there was no one-on-one interaction with this person.”

Debra hasn’t confirmed exactly when the incident happened, or how old her son was at the time, but he’s now 19 years old and recently left home to attend college.

She continued to open up to the Trinny London founder and revealed, “When you first asked (about my fear), I would have said Times Square… Being in Times Square and having to walk through it with people pressed against my body.

“I felt so scared and I had a panic attack and I started sweating and by the time I got through it I got into my caravan and my hands were physically shaking.

And it was all in my head because there was no actual threat, it was just a conglomeration of all the memories I’ve had of being in crowds when I was touched or someone jumped on me to hug me from behind, and they have withdrawn my backpack and then things like that happened.

“But nothing actually happened, but I just felt like, ‘I can’t be here.’ And just two weeks ago I was walking through Times Square on my own and I had that moment in my head where I thought, “Good girl, good girl Debra, you did it.”

Then she revealed, “I got half way through and someone recognized me, someone whose daughter was screaming and they started walking fast towards me, and my breathing changed and I started walking fast and I just yelled back, ‘Thank you, but I have to going to a play,” to let them know I don’t want any interaction.

“But by the time I got to the play, I felt like that was a win,” Debra added, before opening up about dealing with “serious anxiety” that stemmed from her childhood.

To be fair: The 54-year-old actress spoke of suffering from “severe anxiety” when she was younger

Family photo: The actress confirmed that her son is now 19 and has moved out and gone to college

TV success: Debra was very much in the spotlight thanks to her role in the popular sitcom Will & Grace

“What I carried with me most of my life was anxiety, like severe anxiety, physical anxiety that would make me tired all the time. I just thought I had a fragile immune system and I didn’t have stamina, but since the work I’m doing I feel like I can handle my fears much better and I feel, as a result, I have more stamina,” added Debra up to it.

She went on to explain how filming the 2007 film Lucky You, which also stars Drew Barrymore and Eric Bana, was the “turning point” for her “in terms of standing up for herself” and not caring what people thought of her .

“My people were gratifying in that moment — for the first time, I was able to sublimate it and say, ‘You know what, I don’t care. This is wrong. I’m leaving,'” Debra revealed.

“It was later on where I felt I was validated by the industry. So I felt like I was accepted and considered viable and I think that allowed me to stand up for myself in a way that I hadn’t done for a decade before.”

Now that I’m in my 50s I really don’t care, and I’m sorry to say that some of it comes with age. I don’t think at 25 there would be any way I could go to a place where I didn’t care what people thought of me, because in your twenties you’re still discovering who you are and what your purpose in life is.”