Though Ryan Reynolds might seem like one of the most confident people in Hollywood, that public persona is very different from the anxious person he is on the inside, the actor says.
According to People magazine, the 45-year-old actor has dealt with intense anxiety since he was a child, Reynolds said on 'CBS Sunday Mornings'.
"I've had anxiety my whole life really. And you know, I feel like I have two parts of my personality, that one takes over when that happens," he said.
The outgoing Reynolds that people see on screen is often a last-second shift from his true self, Reynold revealed.
"When I would go out on, like, Letterman, back in the day, I was nervous. But I remember I'd be standing backstage before the curtain would open, and I would think to myself, 'I'm gonna die. I'm literally gonna die here. The curtain's gonna open and I'm just gonna be, I'm just gonna be a symphony of vomit,' just, like, something horrible's gonna happen!" he said.
Reynolds added, "But as soon as that curtain opens, and this happens in my work a lot too, it's like this little guy takes over. And he's like, 'I got this. You're cool.' I feel, like, my heart rate drop, and my breathing calm, and I just sort of go out and I'm this different person. And I leave that interview going, 'God, I'd love to be that guy!' "
Reynolds had first spoken openly about his anxiety in May and has said that his family has inspired him to take it public.
"Part of it is that I have three daughters at home and part of my job as a parent is to model behaviours and model what it's like to be sad and model what it's like to be anxious, or angry. That there's space for all these things," he said, as per People magazine.