Celebrity3 min(s) read
Owen Wilson's rare comment about attempt to take his own life
American actor and comedian best known for his roles in films including Wedding Crashers, Zoolander, and Marley & Me, Owen Wilson, has recently opened up about his mental health struggles and how his brother helped him following a suicide attempt.
In 2007, the now 57-year-old actor attempted to take his own life during a very dark personal period. Almost 14 years later, in 2014, Wilson revealed to Esquire that his older brother Andrew helped him on a daily basis in the months after.
Wilson does not often speak about the dark period of his life
Although Wilson “doesn’t talk much” about the difficult time, he confessed to journalist Ryan D'Agostino that his brother, four years his senior, moved in with him when he returned home from the hospital.
D'Agostino reported that Andrew, also an actor, was "rising with him each morning and writing up little schedules for each day so that life seemed at first manageable and then, at some point, a long time later, actually good."
Tragically, Wilson also revealed later in the cover story that he thought about death from an alarmingly young age. He recalled: "As a kid, there's a lot of things that you think about. Death — that kind of landed with me when I was about 11. And I don't remember ever talking with my parents about it.
"Although I do remember one time saying to my dad — and I remember exactly where in the house — saying, 'I worry about dying,' and seeing my dad turn away and catch himself. And I was surprised to see that reaction. But who knows, maybe that was part of why I said it."
The actor is now doing much better
Thankfully, Wilson also noted that he is now in a “lucky place”. He told the well-known men’s lifestyle magazine: “I've been in sort of a lucky place of feeling pretty appreciative of things. I know everything's kind of up and down, but when you get on one of these waves, you've gotta ride it as long as you can.
"I've just felt — yeah. Feeling pretty grateful. Well, grateful's one of those words that get used all the time. Appreciative. Of, you know, stuff."
Almost two decades after the attempted suicide, Wilson is still acting and has recently appeared in the action thriller Runner alongside Alan Ritchson.
He is also set to star in Rolling Loud and Focker-in-Law, and voiced the main character in the animated film Charlie the Wonderdog last year.
If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or visit 988lifeline.org.