Dwayne Johnson Opens Up About His Depression After 2007 Divorce: 'I Was Just Scared

Along with struggling with his personal life, Johnson found himself at a crossroads in his career

Dwayne Johnson is continuing to open up about his history with depression.

In a new interview with Rolling Stone, the Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle star said he became depressed shortly after his divorce from then-wife Dany Garcia. The pair share a daughter, Simone Alexander Johnson, now 16.

“Around 2008, 2009, I was going through a lot of personal s— that was really f—– me up,” he said. “I was just struggling, man. Struggling to figure out what kind of dad am I gonna be. Realizing I’d done a piss-poor job of cultivating relationships, and a lot of my friends had fallen by the wayside. I was just scared.”

Along with struggling with his personal life, Johnson found himself at a crossroads in his career.

“Professionally, I couldn’t bet on myself,” he said. “I wasn’t used to that. I’d always felt like I could put in the work and fix the scenario with my own two hands.”

After starring in a string of family movies, the actor was ready to take his career to the next level but didn’t know how.

Johnson said he was afraid of being “deemed a failure.”

Pascal Le Segretain/Getty

“My career was a little shaky – really shaky,” he said. “Returning to wrestling wasn’t an option, because I didn’t want to go back deemed a failure. So I’m making these movies, my third family movie in a row, which is often considered career suicide for someone who started in the world of action. Like, ‘Check, please – you’re done.’ ”

After getting a new set of agents (his ex Garcia now represents him), he fulfilled his goal of having a career comparable to Will Smith’s “but bigger.” In 2016, he was crowned the world’s highest-paid actor with $64.5 million in earnings, according to Forbes.

This isn’t the first time Johnson has opened up about his battle with depression. On Monday, the actor shared an important message about mental health on social media.

RELATED VIDEO: Dwayne Johnson Happily & Humbly Accepts His Razzie Award for ‘Baywatch’

After speaking about the dark time he went through at the age of 15 after watching his mother attempt suicide while doing press for his upcoming movie Rampage, Johnson thanked his fans for their supportive messages.

“Struggle and pain is real. I was devastated and depressed,” he said according to The Express. “I reached a point where I didn’t want to do a thing or go anywhere. I was crying constantly.”

“Got tons of responses to this. Thank you,” he tweeted on Monday, while linking to the story. “We all go thru the sludge/s– and depression never discriminates. Took me a long time to realize it but the key is to not be afraid to open up. Especially us dudes have a tendency to keep it in. You’re not alone,” he wrote.