“The Morning Show” star Mark Duplass is happy to be a mental health 'crusader'

Clark Collis
·2 min read
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“The Morning Show” star Mark Duplass is happy to be a mental health 'crusader'

On the SAG Awards red carpet, the actor told EW he was surprised by the big response to his social media post about his mental health struggles.

Mark Duplass is known for playing news producer Chip Black on The Morning Show, but the actor also made headlines himself last October when he revealed on social media that he has been "struggling with anxiety and depression" for most of his life.

Speaking to EW on the red carpet of the 30th SAG Awards on Saturday, where The Morning Show was nominated for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series, Duplass discussed going public with this personal battle and admitted to being surprised that his post caused such a brouhaha.

"I didn't think it was going to be a big deal," Duplass, 47, told EW executive editor Patrick Gomez. "I thought we were at the point where people talk about this and it's demystified, and half the people I know are taking medication and three-quarters of the people I know are in therapy. So I just posted something on Instagram, thought I was stating the obvious, and then everybody was like, 'Oh wow, no one really is talking about that.' And that's a little bit of that bubble mentality. Like, I live in Los Angeles, spend time in New York with artists who talk about this a lot, but a lot of the country still hasn't. So, I was like, 'Oh, I guess this is a crusade. I'm a crusader now! Okay. I'm going to crusade.'"

<p>Frazer Harrison/Getty Images</p> Mark Duplass at the 2024 SAG Awards

Frazer Harrison/Getty Images

Mark Duplass at the 2024 SAG Awards

Speaking to PEOPLE editor-at-large Janine Rubenstein about the synergy in Duplass playing a character who has to deal with a great deal of work stress, he added, "I think there's something happening right now. I think we haven't really dealt with what happened to us in the pandemic and how that changed us. We all were like, 'Oh, pandemic's over, we're back, and it's fine.' And now it's starting to settle in. And so I think there's really a ton of low-grade mental health issues that a lot of people are starting to reckon with, and that's where I'm kind of trying to focus right now."

Duplass was also asked to reveal his "happy place" and replied simply: "Donuts."

Watch the video above for more, and see the full list of SAG Award winners here, updating live.

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