When Stephen Amell tested positive for COVID-19, his main concern was jeopardizing the future of his upcoming show Heels.
The Starz wrestling drama was already in production in Atlanta when the actor fell ill, he revealed on an Oct. 27 appearance on Michael Rosenbaum‘s Inside of You podcast. At the time of the Oct. 20 recording, Amell said he had tested positive two weeks prior and was cleared to go back to set.
The interview marked Stephen’s first major sit-down since suffering a panic attack on the same show exactly nine months ago. Fresh off his departure from Arrow, the moment sparked an important conversation about mental health and career burnout.
“I’m a retired superhero, but take one last thing from me,” Amell noted. “If I’ve had any anxiety, I know that we speak about this sometimes on the pod and, obviously you know, I had a panic attack on your podcast. Take it from a guy whose only sense of anxiety and panic has been the concept of contracting COVID.”
Amell said he “never worried about the lethal aspect” of falling ill from the virus, instead clarifying, “My anxiety came from the idea that I would be letting hundreds of people down.”