NEWSJohn Goodman Reveals He 'Practically Had a Nervous Breakdown' After Pushing Himself 'Too Hard' in His Career
John Goodman admitted he had a rough time over the past few years of his career.
On the June 3 installment of the "SmartLess" podcast hosted by Jason Bateman, Will Arnett and Sean Hayes, he claimed his motivation as an actor feels "much different" at 71 years old than it did when he was younger.
John Goodman reflected on how his acting career has changed at 71 years old.
"The last couple of years have been goofy for me because I’ve been trying to be good — and it doesn’t work that way," he said. "You know, like planning things way too much."
"I overcompensated by working way too hard," the Roseanne star continued. "I’ve just kind of come out of that in the last year or so. And there’s so much to learn."
John Goodman admitted to struggling with self-doubt.
As for how he was able to pull himself out of that phase of self-doubt, Goodman confessed he had to "practically" have a "nervous breakdown."
"It was bad with everything. It just purged out of me when I went to the therapist one day," he shared. "And then for the rest of the day it was horrible. Nothing worked."
John Goodman said he 'practically had a nervous breakdown' over his career.
Despite the difficult times, Goodman said that he eventually learned to be "relaxed" and "open" and "listen" to others.
And when it comes to future work, there are plenty of options for him to discover new parts of himself as an actor.
"I’ve been doing the same same two roles for the last four or five years," he confessed. "I haven’t really had much of a chance to do everything else."
John Goodman previously battled addiction.
Later in the episode, he spoke about his previous battles with addiction and how that affected his career.
"I’ve been clean about 16 years now," he told the co-hosts. "The last 16 years I’ve had to grow a lot into my normal age, and it’s been a lot, but I’m glad I did it."
Never miss a story — sign up for the OK! newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what OK! has to offer. It’s gossip too good to wait for!
Powered by RedCircle
Goodman also made dramatic changes to his weight over the years by dropping 200 pounds.
"I was pushing 400... Somewhere up around there," he said in a 2015 interview. "I'm never not going to look like Paris Hilton or anything like that. It's going to be an ongoing process for the rest of my life."
