“The expectations were eating me alive.”

Anxiety is something that anyone can have — and that includes famous movie stars like Ryan Reynolds.

In a new interview with Variety, Ryan opened up about his anxiety that he’s experienced since he was a kid, and how he coped with it during the lead-up to the theatrical release of Deadpool.

“Our father was tough. He wasn’t easy on anyone. And he wasn’t easy on himself. I think the anxiety might have started there, trying 
to find ways to control others by trying to control myself,” Ryan told Variety. “At the time, I never recognized that. I was just a twitchy kid.” He went on to explain that getting ready to shoot Deadpool brought the anxiety back, leading him to “stay up late with the script so he could punch up Deadpool’s trademark zingers,” Variety reports. “I’d write 10 more jokes,” Ryan said, adding, “I never, ever slept. Or I was sleeping at a perfect right angle — just sitting straight, constantly working at the same time.”

After experiencing a big, positive fan response at Comic-Con, Ryan explained that the “expectations were eating me alive” — but fortunately, his wife Blake Lively “helped me through that. I’m lucky to have her around just to keep me sane.”

Ryan has also said in the past that it was Blake who convinced him that he was worthy to play the fast-talking antihero. “There was a minute where I even thought, ‘Maybe I shouldn’t do the movie,’ because it had been this thing with such a build-up,” Ryan said at the Critics’ Choice Awards last month. “And she was the one that said, ‘You gotta do it. You absolutely have to do it. It’s your dream role. The role you’re meant to play. So you’ve got to get up there and do it.’ She’s been epic for me in every way.”

We’re glad Ryan is outspoken about his anxiety, which goes a long way in removing the stigma around it and other mental health conditions. Anxiety is something that definitely affects lots of people and is a very real condition, and there are coping methods and treatments that can help. For more information on anxiety, check out the Mayo Clinic.