Guardians Of The Galaxy director James Gunn had suicidal thoughts when he was younger.
In a lengthy message posted on Facebook on Saturday (06May17), the 46-year-old filmmaker opened up about his previous depression struggles, admitting to having a terrible time in his youth.
“When I was young I felt utterly alone, at times to the point of suicidal thoughts,” Gunn wrote. “I never felt like I belonged, had an incredibly difficult time connecting to other people and, despite having love around me, I had an impossible time experiencing it, or taking it in.”
However, it through his love of movies and music that the director finally realised there were others just like him out in the world.
“Suddenly I could see past the bland suburbs where I lived into a more magical world, a world more aligned with what I imagined,” he added. “Sometimes these works were simply escapist fantasies that distracted me from the difficulties of my internal life, but other times, in the strongest moments – maybe through the words of Alice Cooper or Freddie Mercury, through Cronenberg films, or even in Chewbacca’s growl – I experienced something deeper, the realization that I wasn’t completely alone.”
The filmmaker, who is currently enjoying huge success with his Marvel sequel, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, touchingly reached out to those fans who might be feeling alone in the world – just like he did.
“They’re a group of heartbroken misfits whose lives have been bereft of tenderness and connection and who have a nearly impossible time trusting themselves or others. But they’re learning, one step at a time. They are me. They are you. We are Groot,” he wrote, sweetly referencing the movie’s superhero tree, voiced by Vin Diesel.
The sequel to the hit 2014 comic book movie, starring Chris Pratt, Bradley Cooper, and Zoe Saldana, debuted on Friday (05May17).
