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Sherlock actor Rupert Graves suffered 'deep depression' as teenager and tried to kill himself

Rupert Graves is currently starring in the Sky drama Sky drama Riviera
Rupert Graves is currently starring in the Sky drama Sky drama Riviera

Sherlock actor, Rupert Graves, has told how he tried to end his life when he was a teenager after he experienced a "deep depression".

The 57-year-old recounted how he took an overdose at the age of 15 before repeatedly vomiting to the point he lost consciousness.

Graves, who is currently starring in Sky drama Riviera, said he hid the incident from his classmates after taking three days off school.

Mr Graves, who grew up in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, said he wished he could go back and advise his younger self to never give up after struggling through adolescence.

"I wasn't the happiest teenager," he told The Big Issue magazine.

"I was very hyper and probably a bit bipolar at that age. I struggled with deep depression and also had these highs."

He said that around girls in his teenage years, he felt he looked like a "fumbling, big-handed, big-footed, misshapen-headed monster".

Speaking of the attempt to take his own life, Graves said: "When I was about 15, I took an overdose of pills to try to die. I remember my senses closing down. I heard the flush of the toilet but it was like a dream."

"I had a thought of, I really think I've gone, I think I'm going to die. And I'm not even sure I want to die.

"Then I vomited so much I knocked myself out.

"I was off school sick for about three days; everyone just thought I had a bug.

"If I could go back to just before I took the pills I'd probably just sit down and hold my younger self's hand and say, listen, I can help you through this.

"It will pass. And while you're waiting for it to pass, just try and be kind to yourself and hyper-aware of what's happening."

Graves, best known for his role as DI Lestrade in the BBC series Sherlock alongside Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman, left school with no qualifications.

He later found fame after he was cast in the Academy Award-winning film A Room with a View in 1985.

Recalling his education, he said he regarded himself as a "bad tempered old horse who just wants to gallop in a different field".