'I spiralled': Josh Gad struggled to cope after learning he had a secret half-brother
Josh Gad has recalled how his behaviour went off the rails as a teenager when he learnt that he had a secret half-brother.
Josh Gad's life "spiralled" after he discovered that he had a secret half-brother.
The 44-year-old star has recalled how he started behaving in a "destructive" manner after being sworn to secrecy by his father about the enormous revelation.
Josh – who has penned the new memoir 'In Gad We Trust: A Tell-Some' – told the 'Bullseye' podcast: "I spiralled. I started getting catastrophic grades in school.
"I remember there was a day where... I was being destructive. You know those lighters in the car that you used to push down to light a cigarette or something? My mother had one of those lighters in the back and I pushed it down, and I remember burning the leather on her car seat. She was like, 'What the hell are you doing?' And I didn't even know I was behaving that way."
The 'Frozen' actor was grateful for the intervention of his mother as it allowed him to visit a therapist and unburden himself of his troubles.
Gad said: "She, the amazing mother that she was, took me to a therapist. I confessed to him what was happening and he was like, 'This is not something you should have to burden yourself with and have to put on your shoulders. This is not okay.'
"I just remember sobbing and releasing myself of that guilt, and finally being able to share with my mom and finally standing on a path for success in my own life."
He added: "One of two things could have happened, and I'm very happy (with) what happened: at that susceptible and still-early age, I was able to take the right path."
Josh is glad that he was able to repay his mother by using his comedic talents to brighten her mood in tough times following the divorce of his parents and realised that performing was something he could do for a living.
'The Book of Mormon' star explained: "I felt like during this period, my job was, 'I'm going to make you laugh.' When I can break through that wall of pain, it's a superpower.
"And I felt like I was seeing, in real-time, that I was bringing her out of this dark spiral she was in, even for just brief moments at a time.
"I realised one day that if I could do this for my mom, is there a path for me to do this at large? Can I actually give this gift to other people, the gift of laughter and joy? The gift of escapism?
"And slowly but surely, that became my path, and part of that was my mom again, giving me a set of tools with which to refine my craft."
