Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, who was crowned as the second highest paid actors in 2017 by Forbes, recently opened up about depression and how he “fought with that beast more than once.”
The 45-year-old actor spoke with Express last Sunday to promote his sci-fi film “Rampage,” which is set to come out in the United Kingdom this month. In his interview, the topic of depression was brought up.
“I reached a point where I didn’t want to do a thing or go anywhere. I was crying constantly,” the actor said.
A couple of months back, Johnson made a post in his Instagram account about a specific scene in HBO’s “Ballers” where he cracks open a can of beer to toast his character’s brother, William, who committed suicide.
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“Got me thinkin’ though bout how many of us have been affected by suicide of our friends, family. Struggle and pain is real. We’ve all been there on some level or another,” the actor wrote in the social media post.
He went on to tell the story of how his mother, Ata, tried to commit suicide in front of him when he was only 15, months after they got evicted from their house.
“She got outta the car on Interstate 65 in Nashville and walked into oncoming traffic,” the former WWE wrestler said. “Big rigs and cars swerving outta the way not to hit her. I grabbed her and pulled her back on the gravel shoulder of the road.”
“What’s crazy about that suicide attempt is to this day, she has no recollection of it whatsoever. Probably best she doesn’t,” he added.
More than 1.5 million people liked the Instagram post that Johnson shared on February 1. And on Sunday, he made another post – this time on Twitter – to thank the people who responded, reminding to everyone to open up.
Years after that encounter, Johnson said that more problems came to his life. His dream of becoming a football player was reportedly squashed after he had been through several injuries. Johnson was eventually let go by the Canadian Football League within a year.
Then, shortly after that, his girlfriend broke up with him. “That was my absolute worst time,” the actor said.
Luckily, both he and his mother have healed up from their rough encounters and bout with depression. He also said that he could easily become suicidal, too, like his mother if had he not found the inner strength to fight and carry on with his life.
“We both healed but we’ve always got to do our best to pay attention when other people are in pain. We have to help them through it and remind them they are not alone.”
Featured image via Instagram / therock
