Matt LeBlanc ‘almost had a nervous breakdown’

Friends star Matt LeBlanc says there was a time he desperately wanted to stay far away from the spotlight and came close to a breakdown.

The 48-year-old actor said it was a “dark time” and he “barely left the house,” reported E! online.

“I was burnt out. I wanted to not have a schedule, not be somewhere. I was in a position to do that. My agent was bummed. Most actors call their agents and say, ‘What’s going on?’ I’d call mine and say, ‘Please lose my number for a few years.’ It was a very dark time. I almost had a nervous breakdown,” LeBlanc said.

The actor escape to his California cattle ranch following the end of his sitcom spin-off, “Joey,” in 2006, cutting his hair into a Mohawk to avoid the limelight. Amid personal and professional difficulties, the only things that kept the actor going was his daughter, Marina. “The second I laid eyes on her (when she was born), I was in love, and I had never felt that way before. I couldn’t believe it. I knew from that moment there was nothing that would ever stop me from loving her even if she crashed my Ferrari,” he said.

However, things took an ugly turn when the little girl was diagnosed with cortical dysplasia, a condition that can affect the brain, bones and motor skills.

“My daughter was diagnosed with a problem with her head. It was a very dark period/ But I got through it. Don’t they say what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger?” Marina, now 11-years-old has outgrown her medical condition.