Mark Consuelos Recalls Embarrassing ‘Existential Crisis’ Moment After Forgetting His Lines

Everyone messes up at their job sometimes, even Emmy award winner Mark Consuelos.

On last Wednesday’s episode of Live With Kelly & Mark, the talk show that he co-hosts with his wife Kelly Ripa, the 54-year-old actor shared one of his scariest moments on the job while speaking with guest host Rita Ora.

He shared that actors get anxious about big moments too, saying he would find himself on-edge “if you knew some big speech was coming up when you had to do a scene or you had to work nights” and talked about a time he had an “existential crisis” after forgetting his lines on set.

“Something happened to me. I hadn’t been working. It had been a minute since I’d been on set and acting, and for me, learning lines is not a big deal. I can learn lines,” Consuelos said. “Then, I had a moment where it was a night shoot, so I was in my trailer from 5 p.m. until 1:30 a.m., just sitting there. At 1:30, they knock, and this little speech, I went on set, 100 extras.”

He didn’t name a specific movie or TV series, but said the scene was simply him “walking through a street.” When it came time to deliver his monologue, he faltered.

“I couldn’t remember bits and pieces. It’s like an existential crisis,” he said. “And if you’re the person that just comes in for a few days, you [already] feel like you’re not part of the team.”

Ora, a pop singer known for songs like “Black Widow” and “Let You Love Me,” also has experience acting and shared similar thoughts. She recalled filming “a huge monologue” during a ballroom scene for her role in Disney’s film Descendants where she froze up during a crucial moment.

“I don’t know what happened. My brain just completely melted. I just froze,” she said. “And that’s the beauty of film, you can sort of do it again!”