Tony Shalhoub Reveals Past ‘Nervous Breakdown’

Actor Tony Shalhoub is getting real about a mental health issue that presented itself in the early portion of his decades-long career as an actor.

Shalhoub, 72, the lead actor in USA’s popular 2002-2009 series Monk, appeared earlier this week on the Really Famous with Kara Mayer Robinson podcast and shared his past struggles. “I literally drove myself crazy because my life was so out of balance. I was so consumed or kind of obsessed with clawing my way up whatever that ladder is,” Shalhoub told the podcast.

“I sort of succumbed to the stress of it all and I was in a very unhealthy place.”

The climb up the ladder began after he graduated from Yale and pursued acting. He quickly found success on Broadway then landed a mainstream role on Wings, an NBC sitcom that aired in the ‘90s. Dozens of roles in TV and film followed, contributing to Shalhoub’s struggles, admitting to the podcast that he experienced a fear of failure.

“Comparing myself to someone else’s career that was going so well,” Shalhoub explained. “Even when I was doing alright or keeping my head above water, feeling like it wasn’t enough. It wasn’t going to be sustainable.

“So what happened was it started to manifest itself physically. I got very sick … I kind of had a mini breakdown, a nervous breakdown.”

The actor explained that at that point, he was not in a good place physically, emotionally or mentally.

Fortunately, around the same time, he met his now-wife, Brooke Adams, and she guided him through his tough times and gave him a better understanding of balance.

Since marrying Adams in 1992, he’s been in a better mental and physical state. His career has also seen continued successes. He captured three Primetime Emmy Awards for his role in Monk, and another Primetime Emmy for playing a professor in Amazon’s The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. Shalhoub’s also been awarded a Daytime Emmy and a Tony Award throughout his career.

In 2027 Shalhoub is slated to appear in a pair of series, Cars: Lightning Racers (as a voice actor) and CBS’ Einstein.