Watch: Why Brittany Snow Says Leaving Hollywood in Her 20s Saved Her LifeContent warning: This story discusses eating disorders. Brittany Snow made a life-changing career decision. After breaking into the entertainment industry as a teenager in the early aughts, the Pitch Perfect alum knew that taking a break from work to focus on her mental health-which included struggles with an eating disorder and self harm-saved her in the long-run. "My life depended on it," Brittany told Self magazine in an article published Nov. 6. "I mean, there was no way that I would still be here-and I'm trying not to be hyperbolic." After a year of working through outpatient treatment for her anorexia and self-harm, the 39-year-old returned to work with her role in 2012's Pitch Perfect, which she credits for bringing happiness back into her life. "I was so grateful, staying after hours," the Hunting Wives star said. "Everybody was complaining about the long shoots and I was like,' This is amazing.' I just felt so grateful to be a part of that movie because I didn't think I was ever going to work again." She added, "So that movie was really special to me." readBrittany Snow Reacts to Theories About Her and Anna Kendrick's Pitch Perfect CharactersAnd while Brittany's hiatus came after breakout performances in movies like John Tucker Must Die and Hairspray, she looks back on those roles as places she could escape to amid her most challenging moments. "I think that in those days," she said. "I needed to be a part of movies that made me fall in love with life again."Stephanie Augello/Variety via Getty ImagesIndeed, while Brittany had to call cut on her career as a life-saving measure, she credits her return to Hollywood for helping her stay the course of her recovery journey, despite some setbacks. "I always knew I was supposed to be doing this and that I could get here," she shared of her career. "I just didn't know when.""I'm so grateful that I've had both sides of this," she added. "Because I really do know the people that really care about me-the people that were with me and around me when I couldn't get a job and I didn't know what I was going to do-and wanted to hang out with me just as much."Keep reading for more stars who have been candid about their mental health...
Franklin Sheard/Fad Media Group/ShutterstockGucci ManeThe rapper (real name Radric Davis) revealed in his October 2025 book Episodes: The Diary of a Recovering Mad Man that he had been diagnosed with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, which prompted a mental health episode in 2020. "After that, I was like, 'Man, I got to really just hold myself accountable and take care of my health,'" he said on an episode of The Breakfast Club. "I don't never want to have an episode again. I'm gonna see a therapist, [even] if I have to take medicine." In addition to his hope that his vulnerability would help others in need, Gucci Mane said that his kids Ice Davis and Iceland Ka'oir Davis with wife Keyshia Ka'Oir inspired him to seek help amid his episode. "My wife was pregnant with my little boy," he continued. "I don't want to raise a family and then my mental health [is] gone. What if I have an episode I can't come back from? So, I just started doing the work and started seeking help."Sansho Scott/BFA.com/ShutterstockPenn BadgleyThe Gossip Girl alum detailed his experience as a child actor with what he described as "body dysmorphia." "I know that I hated my body," Penn told The Guardian in April 2025, "and simply wanted a different one." In response to the weight he gained following his parents' divorce, he added, "There was just a period where, coming out of depression and isolation, I was jumping wilfully into, but also being thrust into, this world where the more conventionally beautiful I seemed, the more successful I might be, the more value I might have." Despite the mental struggles, though, Penn credited his ability to persist to his spirituality. "That is what allowed me to persevere through the disillusionment, all the things I'd been grappling with," he explained, "and then come back to it all, but with hopefully some kind of inner transformation." John Salangsang/ShutterstockEliza CoupeThe Scrubs alum has been vocal about her past difficult relationship with food. "Some may call it an eating disorder, I just call it my life," she said on the The Funny Thing Is podcast. "My drug of choice was always food. I did crazy s--t with it." She added, "I would over-exercise, and there was a sprinkle of bulimia in there." Though she has confessed her struggles with her diet, she has also shared her progress with her health and fitness goals. "When I was 23, I cut all sugar out of my diet, quit drinking, and found yoga and breathing and stretching," she told Bon Appétit in 2017. "That's the best Ritalin you could give anyone." She continued, "I'm an actress with food issues and body image issues-that's real. But I'm trying to heal that part of myself and also handle my physica