Mary Elizabeth Winstead: 'Getting divorced was scary and crazy'

Mary Elizabeth Winstead has described getting divorced from her longtime partner as a "scary and crazy" experience.

The 35-year-old actress split from director Riley Stearns after seven years of marriage in 2017 and went on to embark on a relationship with her Fargo co-star Ewan McGregor, 48.

Reflecting on the big change in her personal life, Winstead told Glamour U.K. magazine that even though the divorce process was difficult, she feels more empowered than ever.

"I got divorced a couple of years ago, which was a big scary, crazy thing for me because I had been with the same person since I was 18 years old and that was what I knew," she shared.

"All the way through my twenties I was trying very hard to keep myself the same, because another thing I heard a lot growing up was people saying, 'you're so great, never change.' You can take that to heart, in the wrong way, and try to keep yourself from growing too much because you don't know what's on the other side. So I was really starting new as an adult for the first time in my life. For me that was a big turning point, being OK with changing, accepting that change is a good thing and that it's OK not to know where that change is going to take you."

Winstead, who grew up the youngest of five children, admitted the idea of being an independent person scared her but she's glad she's at a place where she can rely on herself.

"That's been a big thing for me as well because growing up I had a mom who was always there taking care of everything. So, getting to that point where I don't have a crutch to rely on to take care of things has been really empowering and important," she added.

McGregor filed for divorce from Eve Mavrakis, his wife of 22 years, in January 2018.