These types of statements – are big, for changing the convo and culture.
I’ve shared a number of times how my favourite pic in the mental health space is of @eddiegeorge2727 – the former Ohio St and later NFL RB, built like a diesel truck, now on a yoga mat, doing a warrior pose, with a football down by his side. The stark contrast is so powerful: Eddie’s not the type of guy/type of build you’d expect when seeing a yoga pose. It opens up the convo to way more folks.
Similar situation here to Hugh Jackman. Most, when they think of Hugh, think of an -Men Superhero! No vulnerabilities.
That’s why this share, like the Eddie George one, is so big:
The 54 year old Jackman told BBC: “I certainly realised how vulnerable I was. I was a hot mess”.
This statement is referring to filming a role in his current movie,. The Son, where he plays a successful lawyer with a teenage son from a previous marriage whose mental health is suffering.
Jackman told the BBC the subject matter of the film and then returning to acting after not working during the Covid lockdowns messed with his own mental health. And then Jackman’s father died while he was making the movie. He said “My father actually never missed a day of work in his life.” Because of this, Hugh didn’t take any time off to grieve. “I did imagine what my father would say and he would say ‘go to work”.
But from pushing that way through, Jackman shared: I would be one of the least likely people I know who I’d describe as a hot mess, but I certainly was during this”. He talked about suffering sleepless nights while playing the role of Peter, a workaholic with a new partner, young baby, a previous wife and their troubled teenage son.
He says he continues to consult a therapist who helped him through filming.
Jackman added that the film’s producers also employed psychiatrists on set in case members of the cast and crew needed to talk about the upsetting material. “This was the first time I’d ever seen such a thing on a film, and people used it and it was necessary”.
More stars opening up about their ‘stuff’ and not only their labels…coming from the least likely characters….accomodations being made for therapists in places you don’t usually see. More of this please!!