Simon Pegg opens up about mental health struggles: I just felt all at sea”
Actor Simon Pegg has opened up on the time he was struggling with alcoholism when filming Mission: Impossible III with Tom Cruise in the mid-2000s, directed by J.J. Abrams in his feature debut.
In a new interview with The Guardian, Pegg explained that by 2005, when shooting for the film was taking place, he was going through a difficult period of mental health that stemmed from his childhood experiences.
“I was not in a good place, emotionally and physically,” Pegg said. “It was a weird thing as well, because the dreams I’d had as a kid were manifesting and I wasn’t happy and I couldn’t figure out why. And that was down to personal things, depression.”
He added, “I had to get happy in myself before I could start enjoying anything else. Which I did. But at that time it was very frustrating to be there and not be able to fully enjoy it, because I just felt all at sea.”
Pegg particularly struggled with the fact that he had little to do during production while waiting for his scenes. “I was put in a hotel in Beverly Hills and I waited for eight days before anyone called me and told me what I was doing or gave me any lines,” the actor said.
He continued, “I went completely stir crazy and I was drinking to pass the time. Then you get hungover and you wind up not feeling great. I didn’t have a car. And I remember the hotel had a car service and I got them take me down to the coast, to Santa Monica and I sat in Ye Olde King’s Head, this British pub, and drank Stellas to feel some semblance of normality.”
Check out the Mission: Impossible III trailer, starring Pegg and Cruise, below.
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