John Goodman of Roseanne and The Conners fame is opening up about how he’s overcome anxiety in recent years to achieve success in Hollywood.
Goodman Opens Up About Anxiety
While appearing on the “SmartLess” podcast, Goodman, 71, admitted that he’s only just “managed” to come out of a difficult time in his life. He overworked himself to the point where he was “practically having a nervous breakdown.”
“It was bad with everything,” he confessed. “It just purged out of me when I went to the therapist one day. And then for the rest of the day it was horrible. Nothing worked.”
“You’ve got to be relaxed when you do stuff. And open and listen,” Goodman continued. “You have to be ready to listen to yourself. You have to be relaxed. For me, that was the key. I already know this stuff, and that’s one thing I didn’t trust myself about.”
“I don’t know,” he added. “I’ve been doing the same two roles for the last four or five years, and I haven’t really had much of a chance to do everything else.”
Goodman went on to acknowledge that these two roles are the parts he plays in The Conners and The Righteous Gemstones. He also said that his sobriety is what has allowed him to be so open about his struggles.
“It’s kind of to help myself and maybe to help somebody else. I’ve been clean about 16 years now,” he said. “The last 16 years I’ve had to grow a lot into my normal age, and it’s been a lot, but I’m glad I did it.”
Goodman’s History
Goodman was born in Affton, Missouri, USA on June 20, 1952. His mother was a saleswoman, and his father was a postal worker who sadly died of a heart attack when he was only two years-old.
Goodman fell in love with acting in college and eventually moved to New York City to pursue the craft full time. He made his film debut with a small role in the 1982 movie Eddie Macon’s Run.
Goodman’s big break came in 1988, when he was cast as Dan Conner on the ABC sitcom Roseanne alongside star Roseanne Barr. He played the character until the show went off the air in 1997. During Roseanne’s run, Goodman was nominated for seven Emmy Awards and won one Golden Globe for his work on the sitcom.
“Doing Roseanne (1988) made me famous,” Goodman later said. “To this day, people will call me “Dan Arnold”. They will shout out, ‘Where’s Roseanne?’”
Goodman Reprises Dan Conner Character
Goodman went on to reprise the role of Dan Conner when Roseanne was rebooted in 2018. He has since gone on to play the character on the show’s reboot The Conners.
Goodman has also had a successful career in movies. He was nominated for the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor for his work in the 1991 movie Barton Fink. He was also one of the stars of the 2012 movie Argo, which won the Oscar for Best Picture.
Anxiety is something that millions of people sadly suffer from. Goodman’s story is truly inspiring, as it goes to show that it’s possible to overcome anxiety to achieve major success!
