Robson Green had "real problems with fame and alcohol and drugs" when he was growing up.
Robson Green
The 'Grantchester' star shot to fame when he was just in his 20s, starring in drama 'Soldier Soldier', and he admits during that difficult period, he "lost touch" with what mattered in life.
He said: "I was just 26 years old when real fame came knocking at my door with a drama called Soldier Soldier watched by 21 million people. I was enjoying fame. I was enjoying recognition, I was enjoying all the approval. I was enjoying the awards, I was enjoying the parties, I was enjoying the drinking and everything else that went with fame.
"But, and I wish this was a more original story, my relationships were a car crash. And I was losing touch with what mattered in life. I grew up in a close-knit mining community in the North East of England where my dad worked down the pit. I started having real problems with fame and alcohol and drugs."
Eventually, the 56-year-old actor decided to get help one day after his father quizzed him on who he was, only for him to answer about his career and not about who he was a person.
He told the Daily Mirror newspaper: "Dad turned up, he’d worked hard all his life and he looks at his son who he has given everything to, blood, sweat and tears, and he goes ‘Are you happy?’, and I went ‘Yeah,’ but deep down I knew I wasn’t and I realised I didn’t have anything. Because all I was doing in my life was acting. I was a people pleaser, always desperate for recognition, reassurance and I needed help. So I went to see a therapist. He said to me, ‘So tell me who Robson Green is’. I said ‘I am this guy who acts’. He said, ‘No, that’s your career. Who are you?’ I didn’t have a clue."
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