Harrison Ford opens up about battle with mental illness in early career

Harrison Ford revealed that during his career, he has suffered from depression.

The 83-year-old star recalled finding himself at a particularly low ebb before embarking on a college course in drama.

During an appearance on the Awards Chatter podcast, Harrison shared, “I had a single room, and I had classes to go to, but I rarely ventured out. And on the rare occasion I did go to the classroom, I would often touch the door on the outside of the building, and turn around and walk back”.

He continued, “I was more than depressed. I think I was ill. I was socially ill, psychologically not well.” He then looked at life from a new perspective, saying, “I was surprised that the people that I had considered to be fellow geeks and misfits were, in fact, some of the most interesting people I knew”.

The Indiana Jones star added, “They were doing something that I hadn’t really understood, and they were telling stories about life, and some of them were exceptional in their capacity to understand human behaviour. And so, I think I simply found my place amongst storytellers. It really changed my world, changed my life”.

Meanwhile, Anthony Mackie, who starred alongside the Hollywood icon in Captain America: Brave New World previously admitted to being surprised that Harrison is so “normal.”

When asked what surprised him the most about working with Harrison, the actor told E! News, “I was surprised at how normal he was.”

“Usually you have a big star in a movie, they go sit off by themselves with their friends and won’t talk to you,” Anthony said of Harrison Ford, further recalling, “But whenever the cast and crew got together Harrison would come and just chill with us like a regular person and eat those awful peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.”