Not even Oliver Queen is immune. Stephen Amell revealed that he battled the novel coronavirus as he returned to the podcast that he had a panic attack on nine months prior.
“I’m a retired superhero,” the Arrow alum, 39, said on the Tuesday, October 27, episode of “Inside of You,” which was released three weeks after he tested positive for the virus. “Take it from a guy whose only sense of anxiety and panic has been the concept of contracting COVID.”
Amell explained that he “never worried about the lethal aspect” of the coronavirus but did feel he “would be letting hundreds of people down” as his upcoming Starz drama, Heels, was already in production.
“I didn’t have anxiety about the fact that I would give it to other people, which again I possibly did, which is unsettling in and of itself,” he continued. “But you have to understand that because of this anxiety, I have actively, actively, actively tried to avoid contracting this virus. And guess what? I f–king got it anyway, so be smart. If you’re being smart, stay smart. And if you’re not, you’re just dragging this s–t on longer for everybody else.”
The actor went on to detail the symptoms he had before going to take a test, including feeling “super dizzy” with a “plugged” right ear and no appetite. He also lost 15 pounds.
“When I got the positive test, for me it became, ‘Holy f–k. I just destroyed this show because I’m No. 1 on the call sheet, and I work every day more or less,’” he recalled thinking. “I’m in my head going, ‘S–t, they’re going to have to shut down the production. We’re not yet done with the first block of two episodes. Did I just ruin this?’”
Fortunately, the network was “so supportive” while Amell spent two weeks recovering in isolation.
“What they were able to do is mind-boggling, quite frankly,” he said. “It just goes to show that they were prepared for it, but not everyone has the luxury of taking two weeks off. In fact, most people don’t. We are in the midst of a global pandemic, and times are tough for a lot of people.”
The wrestler previously appeared on Michael Rosenbaum’s podcast in January, when he had to get some “fresh air” mid-interview due to a panic attack. He ended up not being able to finish the episode.
“I was in a really bad spot,” Amell later tweeted. “I’m happy to report that I’m doing much better.”
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