Idris Elba says he’s been in therapy for a year because he’s a “workaholic”

Idris Elba has revealed he’s been going to therapy for the last year after forming some “unhealthy habits”.

The actor made an appearance on the Changes with Annie Macmanus podcast where he admitted that he’s “an absolute workaholic” and wants to “adjust”.

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“It’s not because I don’t like myself or anything like that,” Elba said. “It’s just that I have some unhealthy habits that have really formed. And I work in an industry that I’m rewarded for those unhealthy habits.

“I’m an absolute workaholic and that isn’t great for life generally. Nothing that’s too extreme is good, everything needs balance. But I’m rewarded massively to be a workaholic.”

The actor detailed how his career has encouraged him to work more, adding: “Those are pathways that I had to be like, ‘I’ve got to adjust.’”

Elba said the problem is he’s still working when he does have downtime, because he feels “relaxed” by creativity.

“My studio in my house, I just love being in here,” Elba said. “I’ll open that laptop and be like, ‘I don’t know what to make today,’ and it’ll come out like this or that. And I’m exhilarated by that and also so relaxed by it.

“I could work 10 days on a film, underwater sequences, holding my breath for six minutes, and come back and sit in [the studio] and [feel relaxed], more so than sitting on the sofa watching TV with the family – which is bad right? This is the part where I’ve got to normalise what makes me relaxed, it can’t be all work.”

Elba stars in the recently released Cyberpunk 2077 expansion Phantom Liberty, where he plays character Solomon Reed. He has also contributed music to the game, with his DJ set adapted into an in-game radio station.

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