Tony Hale Shares How He Confronted the 'Dark Terror' of Panic Attacks

The 'Inside Out 2' actor appeared on Zach Braff and Donald Faison’s podcast, sharing how he started “embracing” his fears

Tony Hale is opening up about his experiences with panic attacks, which he said he has dealt with since high school.

During an appearance on Fake Doctors, Real Friends with Zach Braff and Donald Faison, Hale and the Scrubs alums had an honest conversation about stage fright, which Braff and Hale both said they've encountered.

“I have stage fright, too,” Braff shared, noting that he always feared he would forget his lines doing live theater. “I was reading that you dealt with it, too.”

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“My version of that is that I would have a panic attack on stage,” Hale, 53, replied. “Every night I was like, ‘This is the night I'm going to have a panic attack on stage,’ because I had a panic attack in high school, and it's amazing how things get really locked in.”

The Veep alum continued, “I had one in high school, and ever since then, it just had become this almost dark terror.“

Hale, who voiced Fear in Inside Out 2, explained that he started doing cognitive behavioral therapy, and his therapist recommended, “Rather than being such a victim to your thoughts and your feelings, you're a little more of an observer to your thoughts and your feelings”

His therapist advised, “When you kinda hear those thoughts or those voices, or you have those feelings, turn to that fear, and say, ‘Hey, I appreciate you being here.’ “

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Hale shared he would tell his fear, “I know you're trying to help. I'm gonna go do the play, and I'll be back,” whereas “before, what I would do is, like, ‘Tony, just buck up. Almost just try to block it out. You got this and psych yourself up.’ “

However, pushing the fear away, Hale noted, “only made it bigger. It only made that anxiety and fear bigger.”

“The minute I started embracing it and not trying to cut it off — it's not like it wasn't there,” he said, adding, “I just did Inside Out 2, and it's like a little more like, ‘Hey, this emotion is actually trying to help you. It's thinking it's helping you and have a little more compassion towards it,’ “ he explained, referring to the movie’s plotline of how the character Anxiety disrupts Riley’s life.

However, for Hale, this approach worked. “Every night, it dissipated,” he said. “I still had those feelings, but I was like, ’Hey, man. I really appreciate it. I know you're trying to help. I'll be back.’ “

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