(Credit: Far Out / YouTube still)
Actor John Goodman has spoken out about his mental health struggles and how it has affected his long-running career in film and television.
upper Smartless During the podcast, Goodman’s conversation with the hosts and fellow cast members Jason Bateman, Will Arnett and Sean Hayes turned to the topic of mental health. Goodman has had an incredibly successful career and worked constantly since his breakout role in the 1980s TV series. Rosanne, He claimed his hard work ethic was just a bandaid to cover up bigger problems. Instead, he’s now learning to work less and not use it as a way to hide his struggles.
“I was overworking and overcompensating, and I’ve only just gotten out of that in the last year or so,” Goodman explained to the host. “I have a lot to learn.” He said that working less and addressing his issues had been his goal over the last few years, but “a lot has changed now.”
Goodman continued, “I feel like I’m still learning. I’ve been trying to be a good kid for the last few years and it’s not worked out that way. But it hasn’t worked out that way.”
But the process wasn’t easy: Goodman said the only way he was able to learn the lesson and begin to overcome the pattern was “by having essentially a nervous breakdown.”
“Everything was awful,” he said of the low point in his mental health that led him to recover at work. “One day I went to see a therapist and it all just went away. And the rest of the day was awful. Everything was going wrong,” he added.
Goodman has played many iconic roles throughout his career, notably appearing in classic films such as: Blues Brothers 2000, The Flintstones David Byrne’s true storyThe actor is also a regular with the Coen brothers, appearing in many of their films. The Big Lebowski, Oh brother, where art thou? and Inside Llewyn Davis.
Despite having such a successful career and a long list of performances, Goodman found himself suddenly faced with waves of self-doubt later in life and was most plagued by anxiety. He said that his “fear of losing faith in myself” has become a central issue in both his life and career recently.
But no art is worth sacrificing the mental health of its creator, and no actor should compromise their mental health for the sake of their work. Goodman also knows that good acting requires a healthy mind and a balanced emotional state. “You have to be relaxed when you do something, and you have to be open-minded and listen,” he said, as he recovered and returned to work.
