Oppenheimer star David Krumholtz announced that he is taking a break from Hollywood.
Krumholtz made the reveal in a Threads post on Tuesday, writing that he was “frustrated, fed up, fried” with the profession, which he said has “lost its gleam.” He explained that the anxiety of finding the next gig ultimately sucked the joy out of the job. “Specifically, the fear was that I’d go broke and not be able to handle being out of the game. But I sent the definitive email,” he wrote.
The Supergirl star wrote that he felt an immediate release once the decision was made official.
“Gotta say, a huge wave of relief washed over me,” he continued. “Not sure what I’m going to do for money instead, or how I’m going to do it, but I just removed a humongous burden, one that I truly didn’t fathom the weight of until it was gone.”
Krumholtz is best known for his roles as Charlie Eppes in CBS’ Numb3rs, Bernard the Head Elf in The Santa Clause movie franchise, and as Isidor Isaac Rabi in Christopher Nolan‘s Oscar-winning film Oppenheimer.
Before he decided to put his career on pause, the star opened up about “creative depression” in posts to Threads from earlier this month.
“As a career artist, you kinda have to tell yourself that you haven’t even scratched the surface of what you’re capable of,” he wrote in a post on August 11. “This thinking, motivated by the very perilous instinct that, in reality, you’ve already more than spread yourself thin. There is no in-between mindset available to you, no matter how hard you search. Creative depression is a unique emptiness.”
He added at the time, “It’s a backup gas tank for the moment you break down in the middle of a barren desert in which you’ve gone off-road.”
Despite his hard pivot out of the industry, Krumholtz clarified on Wednesday morning that he wasn’t leaving the industry entirely, even though his break is indefinite.
“I never used the word ‘retiring’ or ‘quitting,’ he wrote. “Instead, I said that I decided to put my career on hold. I don’t expect anyone to understand, but the outpouring of support for my decision has been deeply heartwarming.”
While he’s “grateful” for his on-screen career thus far, Krumholtz wrote, “A time has come where the weight of those dreams and ambitions has become surprisingly oppressive. That’s a me problem, not a Hollywood as a whole problem. There are no rules that guarantee success, but I know this: an amazing career in this business consists of a small handful of triumphs, but not without a mountain of disappointments.”
He went on, “I love my mountain of disappointments, I do, but I’m human, and my mountain is starting to sting more than it used to.”
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