The Flash star Grant Gustin reveals he’s suffered from ‘anxiety and depression’ since he was just 4 years old
GRANT Gustin, who plays the titular character on The Flash, opened up in a new interview about dealing with “anxiety and depression” since he was at a very young age.
The 30-year-old CW actor shared his mental health struggles while speaking with Michael Rosenbaum, who played Lex Luthor on the WB-CW’s Smallville, on his Inside of You podcast.
Grant, a Virginia native, has always loved musical theater and acting and knew that was what he wanted to do with his life, but he still gets “audition anxiety” and struggles with “imposter syndrome.”
He told that he originally “didn’t want to go to the [Flash] audition at all because [he] thought it was so irrational to think that [he] could book it.”
He added that he gets major “audition anxiety,” which only contributed to his lack of desire to go out for the role of Barry Allen, aka The Flash.
Although he did end up going and landing the role, he revealed, even after getting it and working tirelessly on the CW project for the past six seasons, he still feels “imposter syndrome all the time.”
The actor, who often feels “very insecure,” explained he put “way too much pressure on [himself]” in the beginning years of the Flash and still has to remind himself to ease off a bit.
Deeper into the podcast, Grant shared how his anxiety actually started long before he started his career with a role in the Broadway Revival Tour of West Side Story, or began auditioning or landed the lead role on .
He opened up: “Since really young, and I mean since probably four or five, I’ve dealt with anxiety and depression.
“I had really weird anxious-type dreams as a really young kid.”
Grant, who got married to physical therapist Andrea "LA" Thoma in 2018, said he’s learned a lot from therapy and even attended sessions as a couple with LA before they wed.
He said: “I don’t want to get to into it, but before we got married we started doing couple’s therapy just to be ready for marriage…and then all kinds of things for both of us came to the surface.
“I knew I had always dealt with anxiety but getting pin-pointed ideas of where things started and why you’re feeling that way. Anxiety is ever-present in my life, for sure.”
After hearing Grant get honest about his mental health, Michael brought up how Arrow alum Stephen Amell mentioned on an episode of the podcast earlier this year that he’s been dealing with some similar issues.
The 38-year-old actor recently wrapped his eight-season CW series and said he’s been struggling with some anxiety stemming from that chapter of his life closing.
When the episode came out, Stephen wrote on Twitter: “I did Rosey’s podcast after Arrow ended. We had to cut it short because I had a full on panic attack.
“It wasn’t pretty. I came back a few weeks ago to chat about it. I was in a really bad spot and I’m happy to report that I’m doing much better.”
Grant is a supporter of his friend and Arrowverse alum Chris Wood’s mental health awareness campaign, IDONTMIND.
In October 2017, while telling his fans about the campaign, which aims to “defeat the stigma around mental illness,” according to its website, Grant also told his followers: “Different forms of mental illness have affected me personally over the course of my life. I think most of us can say that.”
Earlier this month, Grant mourned the loss of a former co-star of his after Logan Williams, who played a young Barry Allen on The Flash in seasons 1 and 2, .
Grant shared a photo of himself with Logan, as well as Flash’s Jesse L. Martin, on Instagram, writing: “Just hearing the devastating news that Logan Williams has passed away suddenly. This picture was early in the filming of The Flash pilot episode back in 2014.
“I was so impressed by not only Logan’s talent but his professionalism on set. My thoughts and prayers will be with him and his family during what is I’m sure an unimaginably difficult time for them.”
This loss came as the actor was still grieving the death of his grandfather who had passed away just a few weeks earlier.
The Glee alum shared a collection of sweet photos of the man on social media at the time, while remembering him as a “wonderful Grandpa” and someone who “lived a long and happy life.”
Grant is currently on hiatus from filming The Flash as production is shutdown amid the coronavirus pandemic.
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There are still a of the show still to air.
The Flash broadcasts on The CW on Tuesdays at 8 p.m.
All of on May 20.