It seems like we watched Sally Field grow up on our screens, but while many of us were laughing along with her character on her breakout show The Fling Nun it turns out the actress was dealing with a big issue.
In an emotional interview with young actress Hailee Steinfeld for a show called ‘Actors on Actors’, Sally opened up for the first time about the crippling depression she suffered from as a teenager.
“It took me a long time to get to anybody to really learn a craft and that wasn’t until I was in my second television series, and unfortunately it was something called ‘The Flying Nun,’” she said.
“I was suffering so badly, I was so depressed and I was 19 and I didn’t want to be playing something called the Flying Nun, I did not want to be dressed as a nun all day long.”
Hailee is 19 now and it seems like Sally wanted to offer some advice as she headed down her career path.
“(The actor’s studio) really began to form who I was not only as an actor, but helped me be who I became as a person,” she admitted.
“Because it gave me tools … so that I never lose my own voice … acting tools, that I can go into myself and if I can call on those pieces of myself as an actor, then I can call on them as a human, and I couldn’t do that before.”
Back when Sally was suffering from depression, mental illness wasn’t something that is so openly talked about like it is now.
Nowadays, most people recognise that it’s not something to be ashamed of and that talking about it is one of the best ways to get help.
It appears that Sally, like so many others, had to suffer in silence for a long time before she found a way to help herself.
Her candid confession is just a reminder to us all that it’s important to look out for one another and never be afraid to ask for help if we need it.
If you or anyone you know needs help, call Lifeline on 13 11 14.