8 Actors Who Have Opened Up About Living With Depression
Regarding celebrities, it can be difficult to see understand what they might be going through personally when they are some of the biggest stars on the planet. But several have opened up about their battle with depression, two things that are talked about at length in the world now. Here are eight celebrities who have opened up about their battle with depression.
Lady Gaga
Lady Gaga has been in a few movies and TV shows alongside her famous singing career, but she's also opened up about her battle with depression and anxiety throughout her whole life. In an interview that Lady Gaga did with Billboard back in October 2015, she revealed she created her Born This Way foundation as a way to help troubled teens who are going through the same thing:
I've suffered through depression and anxiety my entire life, I still suffer with it every single day. I just want these kids to know that that depth that they feel as human beings is normal. We were born that way.
Gaga started off her career in music, breaking many records, earning number-one hits, and becoming a massive star throughout the late 2000s and early 2010s.
Later, she began acting, earning a Golden Globe win for her role in American Horror Story: Hotel (which Ryan Murphy created), and starring in films like A Star is Born and House of Gucci. She's even set to appear in Joker 2. Her foundation, Born This Way, is still running today.
Pete Davidson
Pete Davidson has sprung up on the scene in the last few years. From his time on Saturday Night Live until he left in May 2022, to his many great movies that he's starred in, Davidson has made himself a household name. But Davidson has also been extremely open in discussing his mental health, including his depression.
In an honest conversation that he had with Charlamagne Tha God in February 2020, Davidson revealed he feels depression "all the time:"
I'm always depressed, all the time. I have to constantly bring myself out of it. I wake up depressed.
But Davidson said that now, he knows how to get himself out of it, saying that a big part of it included going outside.
But now I know my steps. I have to go outside and be in sun for a little bit, or go for a walk. It's all just programming yourself to trick your brain.
Jared Padalecki
Jared Padalecki is known for his role on the hit TV show Gilmore Girls and his co-starring role on the long-running series Supernatural, which lasted for fifteen years, and a role he could play again some day. Padalacki has also revealed that he has had his struggles with depression as well.
In an interview with Variety in March 2015, Padalecki revealed how he found out he had depression and why he decided to enact a T-shirt campaign through Represent.com to benefit the To Write Love on Her Arms foundation, which helps people suffering from depression. He said it all started from a breakdown while filming Season 3 of Supernatural.
Maybe a lot of people don't know this, but Season 3, we were shooting an episode, and I went back to my trailer to get changed and just kind of broke down. A doctor came to set and talked to me for about 30 minutes or 45 minutes and said: 'Jared, I think you're clinically depressed. I think I should write you a note, and we can shut down production for five days, and then we can take it from there.'
Padalecki then said that while he learned to deal with his depression, he wanted to help others, which led him to create the campaign in 2015.
Jim Carrey
Jim Carrey is known for many incredible movies, and the actor has been very open about his mental state for several years.
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When he was promoting his new film, Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond, in September 2017 for The Hollywood Reporter, Carrey opened up about how when he played Andy, he "lost himself" in the character and realized that he was doing that with himself too – playing a character, because he would get "depressed" when he had to play himself again, so he tries not to do that anymore:
It's kind of an interesting perspective on what came from losing yourself in a character and realizing you're a character who has been playing you your whole life. A lot of people think that I'm kinda going through something — but it's been my whole life. … When I try to go back and play Jim Carrey, I got depressed, and now I don't try to do that anymore.
Lili Reinhart
Lili Reinhart is known for starring on the hit CW show Riverdale, where she played Betty Cooper for seven seasons straight. But the young actress has also been extremely open about her mental health, sharing her struggles with her fans.
On her Instagram Stories (via People) in May 2021, Reinhart revealed that she was having a hard day in regards to her depression and that to anyone else who was going through hard times, it was normal to have tough days like these:
Some days I feel really defeated by my depression. It's an exhausting battle that I've been fighting for 11 years and some days, like today, it can feel intolerable…this is a reminder to my fellow warriors that it's okay to have days where you don't want to fight anymore. You don't need to justify your mental health to anyone.
Taraji P. Henson
Another famous actress here is Taraji P. Henson, who has been in several great movies and TV shows. Aside from her starring roles, she's also opened up about her battle with depression and anxiety.
In a cover story for Self in December 2019, Henson revealed in a video interview her struggles with both depression and anxiety, and that in her community, it's not often that mental health is talked about enough:
What I find disturbing in our community, the African-American community, is that we can talk about a thyroid, we can talk about cancer, breast cancer, AIDS even, but we won't deal with the mental. And that's an issue. I struggle with depression and anxiety.
Henson also revealed that she held "no shame" when she realized what was happening and knew she needed help to deal with it despite the pressure of Hollywood.
For me there was no shame when I started to recognize it. It was like that I have to get some help...I felt pressure to be strong as a black woman in Hollywood because I kept hearing that term. Everyone kept saying, Be a strong black woman, strong black woman. Then I realized that's a myth. It means that I'm some superhuman in some kind of way where nothing affects me, and that is so far from the truth. Sometimes I don't want to be strong….You have to be human, and human means you're vulnerable. And human means you're layered.
Dwayne Johnson
Dwayne Johnson has also been a significant success over the last several years, appearing in many great movies. Still, Johnson revealed in an interview with The Pivot Podcast in May 2023 that he had had three battles with depression in the past, starting off with his time in high school, and that he "didn't know" what it was at the time:
I didn't want to go to school, I was ready to leave, I left school, I didn't take any midterms. At that time ... I didn't know what mental health was, I didn't know what depression was, I just knew I didn't want to be there.
He also revealed that by the time the third bought of depression happened, he had friends that were close by that he could lean on:
And luckily at that time, I had some friends I could lean on and say, 'Hey you know I'm feeling a little wobbly now, got a little struggle happening, I'm seeing a little gray and not the blue.
Ben Affleck
Last, we have Ben Affleck, another actor who has been around for years. Affleck has appeared in many movies, but he says that sometimes he does get depressed and that he uses antidepressants, which he revealed in an interview with Good Morning America in February 2020.
I take medication -- I get depressed. I take antidepressants. They're very helpful for me. I've taken 'em since I was 26 years old, various different kinds. I've switched and tried this and tried that.
It's great to hear these stars openly discuss their past and share their stories. Hopefully, this sheds some light on a few celebrities who are going through depression day to day and how they've learned to cope. It's genuinely one of the best ways to aid others – sharing our stories.
