Ryan Reynolds Says He's Reached the 'Darker End' of Anxiety Before

Ryan Reynolds reveals the depth of his struggle with anxiety.

Ryan Reynolds is often the person to crack a joke. But in his latest interview, he's talking about something serious—anxiety.

In an interview with The New York Times, Reynolds shared information about his struggle with it.

"I have anxiety. I've always had anxiety," he says. "Both in the lighthearted 'I'm anxious about this' kind of thing, and I've been to the depths of the darker end of the spectrum, which is not fun."

Reynolds is known as one of the biggest trolls on the internet. (Even one of his most notable characters, Deadpool, is Marvel's biggest troll.) He's targeted everyone from his wife, Blake Lively, their kids, Hugh Jackman, and 20th Century Fox's rival, Marvel Studios. But Reynolds reveals that the set is where he lives free from it.

"When the curtain opens, I turn on this knucklehead, and he kind of takes over and goes away again once I walk off set," he said.

"That’s that great self-defense mechanism," he continued. "I figure if you’re going to jump off a cliff, you might as well fly."

Reynolds also opened up to GQ, who named him Man of the Year, about his anxiety. 

"When [filming Deadpool] finally ended, I had a little bit of a nervous breakdown. I literally had the shakes," he said. "I went to go see a doctor because I felt like I was suffering from a neurological problem or something. And every doctor I saw said, 'You have anxiety.'"

To cope, Reynolds uses the meditation app Headspace, and credits his wife for helping him through it.

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