Jimmy Fallon Makes Important Mental Health Admission
Millions of fans tune in each evening to watch comedian Jimmy Fallon host "The Tonight Show" on NBC. He's held the role for over a decade on a full-time basis, and has revolutionized late night with his viral skits and games, modernizing the format for new audiences.
Prior to his time as one of the biggest hosts in late night, Fallon was a longtime cast member on NBC's "Saturday Night Live," appearing in iconic sketches and classic moments over six seasons on the show. He notably hosted the "Weekend Update" segment with Tina Fey, another successful former cast member.
Fallon is one of the biggest names in comedy and all of entertainment, but he opened up about some of his personal struggles in a new podcast appearance.
During the latest edition of the "Diary of a CEO" podcast with Steven Bartlett, Fallon discussed some of of the mental health challenges he faced early in his career - including failing an early SNL audition.
“It wasn’t the greatest and I’m a pretty positive guy in general, but I think that was probably my lowest [moment],” Fallon said, describing what he felt when he initially moved to New York in his early 20s.
“I remember trying to see what therapy was or if I could afford a therapist.”
Fallon explained that he ventured to New York from Los Angeles in an effort to break into either comedy or acting, and that he wasn't finding a lot of opportunity.
@steven This isn’t the Jimmy Fallon that you see on TV. This is the human behind the performer. I’m honoured to be sitting down with @Jimmy Fallon today on The Diary Of A CEO. Jimmy is someone that I’ve looked up to since I was young so it feels surreal to have him on our show today! Jimmy is one of America’s most iconic and longest-running late-night talk shows who has revolutionised the late-night genre by embracing social media and viral video formats. The first thing that I asked Jimmy when he sat down was: what do I need to know about you to understand the man that you are? and when I ask that question, I'm specifically trying to understand his earliest context because he is an anomaly, but anomaly that was very, very clear on where he wanted to go in his life from a shockingly young age. So in today’s conversation, we cover: - How he nearly quit it all. - What fame gave him and what it took away? - How he built his entire life around one single goal… - The years of rejection before the breakthrough. - What he’d say to his younger self on the verge of giving up. And more. I haven’t seen Jimmy open up like this before. We spoke about the obsession that consumed him. The setbacks that nearly broke him. The anxiety, the moment he almost gave up entirely and the inner conviction that wouldn’t let him quit. It's so unbelievably apparent to me as someone that's just spent a little bit of time for him, that he is incredibly pure, well-intentioned, happy person who has a really authentic desire to spread to that to other people, and in fact, gains a tremendous amount of energy and happiness from making people like me happy. We need more people like that in the world, especially in times like these where there's so much division and the internet is an absolute war zone. I’m looking forward to hearing your thoughts on this one, let me know them after you’re finished watching. Watch the full episode now on YouTube: search “The Diary of a CEO Jimmy Fallon” DDiaryofaceoppodcastcclipsppodcastclipsvviraljjimmyfallonffallontonighttthetonightshowjjummyfallonshowssnlccomedycomedian
♬ original sound - The Diary Of A CEO - The Diary Of A CEO
"I think I wrote a letter to my best friend, like, ‘I’m losing it dude,’” the comedian said.
“...it was something to the point, like, ‘I’m losing it and I don’t know if I can make it.’”
Fallon said that he dreamed of appearing on SNL since he was a child, and that he would even skip out on parties with friends in order to watch the show as it aired every week.
"I go, ‘I’ll be there at one o’clock.’ I can’t just tape it. I have to watch it live," Fallon said about the show.
“I do nothing else in life, that’s all I wanted to do. And even if that, if I got on for one season or one episode, then I could do whatever I could.”
Fallon lasted for much longer than one episode, and was responsible for some of the most iconic moments in Saturday Night Live history.
We'll see what's next as the 50-year-old enters his second decade as the host of one of America's favorite late-night shows.