It takes a community to battle mental health issues, says actor Brenton Thwaites
Australian actor Brenton Thwaites had a sit down with Eyewitness News at Comic Con Africa to talk about mental health and the support that creatives give each other.
Australian actor Brenton Thwaites at Comic Con Africa. Picture: Palesa Manaleng/ Eyewitness News.
JOHANNESBURG - Comic Con Africa has established itself as the leading pop culture convention in Africa, offering fans a chance to meet their favourite celebrities like Australian actor, Brenton Thwaites.
South Africa’s geeks got a chance to transform themselves into their alter egos or characters and vibe in a judgement-free environment at Comic Con Africa.
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Australian actor Brenton Thwaites had a sit down with Eyewitness News at Comic Con Africa to talk about mental health and the support that creatives give each other.
"Personally, like, I've been depressed and I've been super happy. I find it very hard to be depressed if I get up in the morning and train then get into an ice bath," said Thwaites.
Research in 2019 by the Film and TV Charity highlighted that almost 9 out of 10 respondents had experienced a mental health issue, significantly higher than the 6 in 10 in the wider workplace.
Additionally, rates of depression were higher at 64% compared to 42% in the wider workplace and 24% have self-harmed, compared to 7%.
"I think for me, a lot of it is community-based. So when you do a movie, the movie is its little community. You connect quicker. You like us in this room. We're all connected. In terms of other mental health issues, I don't have any experience with it, and I really don't know, and I'd love to hear the answer, but I think for movies and people on film sets and stuff, when they are depressed or when there's alcoholism and drugs involved, I think that community aspect and having mentors that say, like, respectfully, man, let's not drink every night, helps."
Thwaites played Luke Gallagher on the Fox8 teen drama series SLiDE (2011) and Stu Henderson on the Australian soap opera hit, Home and Away (1988). His films include Blue Lagoon: The Awakening (2012), Oculus (2013), Maleficent (2014), and The Giver (2014).
"We have each other's backs, whether it's security, whether it's mental health, whether it's like, you know, with family. Every season I'd go home and have a baby, so I came back with, like, all these kids, and so I needed a bit of support as well if I was tired. We kind of had each other's backs on The Giver, Jeff Bridges, was there for me. You know, he, he had my back."
Thwaites also starred in starred in Gods of Egypt (2016) and headlined Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017), with Johnny Depp.
"I had great mentors - Jeff Bridges and Ewan McGregor, who was an alcoholic and when I worked with him he was fit, training, a great dad. Johnny Depp was amazing, so I was lucky to have great mentors."