At a Glance
Films and television play a powerful role in shaping public understanding of mental health. Through a range of performances, some actors offer nuanced and empathetic insights into conditions such as autism, OCD, trauma and eating disorders, while others risk oversimplification, ultimately influencing how audiences perceive mental health challenges.
Mental Health in TV and Films
Although mental health is a sensitive topic to talk about, it has been explored in various art forms, including films and TV. Through this powerful medium, writers and producers have introduced audiences to a myriad of characters grappling with a range of mental health challenges. Character portrayals of mental health struggles are a mixed bag, with some sensitive, nuanced and remarkably authentic representations, while others are strikingly inaccurate and stereotypical.
The characters in these series and films stay on longer in our memory, if not for the actors who portray them. In this article, we highlight the 6 actors who have embodied characters with mental health challenges in movies and TV series over the years.
As conversations around mental well-being continue to grow, platforms like The Youth Fairy focus on making these conversations more accessible, especially to parents.
(Disclaimer/trigger warning: This article discusses various sensitive topics, including mental health issues, suicide, and abuse.)
1. Dakota Fanning – Please Stand By (2018)
Please Stand By is a comedy-drama film that follows the life of Wendy, a young woman with autism spectrum disorder. Dakota Fanning portrays Wendy, who is an obsessive Star Trek fan living in a San Francisco care home. It follows her journey and her bold conviction to submit her 500-page Star Trek script to a writing competition in Hollywood. Her winning the competition will help her save her childhood home from being sold off. When she misses the submission deadline, she’s determined to hand-deliver her script, even if it means sneaking out and running away from her caregiver with her dog, Pete, as company.
It portrays her going through laughter and tears as she follows the guiding spirit of Mr Spock on her journey into the unknown. Dakota Fanning beautifully portrays the vulnerability and uncertainty of a young woman with developmental challenges and communication difficulties. This film also reminds viewers of the importance of autism tests for women to better understand how the condition may present differently in adult women.
2. Jack Nicholson – As Good As It Gets (1997)
Set in New York City, this Oscar-winning film stars Jack Nicholson as Melvin Udall, an author who writes on romance on paper but, in real life, is an unpleasant person to be around. Riddled with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), he portrays a person who spews racist remarks and hurtful insults to anyone in the most inappropriate situations, making it easier for audiences to dislike him.
As the story progresses, he befriends Carol, a waitress who tends his favourite table at his favourite restaurant and knows how to handle his rudeness. Things change for Melvin when a series of events leads Carol to quit her job and prompts him to look after his neighbour’s dog.
Jack Nicholson’s portrayal of a misanthropic and bigoted novelist is a raw take on OCD and those who live with it, with a touch of humour. The portrayal takes a step further when his routine is interrupted, and he comes to terms with accepting help to overcome daily challenges.
While the film approaches OCD in a lighter vein, it also highlights treatment options beyond medication, such as modern therapeutic approaches like hypnotherapy. So if the film were set in the UK, we can only wonder if Melvin would consider hypnotherapy in London or reach out for help differently.
3. Freddie Highmore – The Good Doctor (2017)
Freddie Highmore plays Shaun Murphy, a young surgeon with autism and Savant syndrome. This highly acclaimed TV series documents Shaun’s incredible journey through friendships and relationships as he is recruited into the surgical unit of a prestigious hospital.
Before actor Freddie Highmore of The Charlie and the Chocolate Factory fame, there was Dr Virginia Dixon, a heart surgeon with autism in a season of Grey’s Anatomy. While the latter character drew criticism, Highmore does a better job of portraying a surgeon with Savant’s. His character arc had distinctive traits, such as speaking in a monotone unless he got anxious, angry, or stressed and always speaking the truth.
Overall, Highmore plays his character to near perfection while juggling the various medical jargon, emotions, and attitudes to move the story forward.
4. Richard Gadd – Baby Reindeer (2024)
Baby Reindeer is considered one of the most explosive and controversial series released recently. Written, directed, and starring Richard Gadd as the autobiographical character of Donny, this show closely explores the impact of trauma and abuse on mental health and the unhealthy behaviours it can unwittingly lead to.
Gadd, as Donny, portrays the victim of a stalker called Martha. She doesn’t hesitate to go to extremes, even crossing lines dangerously and in an intimidating manner. He also portrays complex emotions beautifully, from how he had been the victim of a sexual assault that turned his life upside down to how it changed the way he thought about himself. Further into the series, you see him depending on Martha’s stalking and adoration as a lifeline to really find himself.
5. Lilly Collins – To the Bone (2017)
Better known for her leading role as Emily in Emily in Paris, Lilly Collins plays a deeply complex character battling a mental health struggle that not many openly talk about, anorexia nervosa. In the movie To The Bone, she portrays Ellen, a 20-year-old who’s struggling with an eating disorder. She is shown to have experienced various treatment options, but with little success. Complexities of her character emerge when she denies her condition, exercises obsessively, and uses humour and sarcasm as defence mechanisms.
Collins stays true to her character, accurately showing the pain and denial behind the eating disorder while she works with Dr Beckham in his group recovery home. While the movie may portray some misleading ideas that willpower alone can be enough to heal from anorexia nervosa, it does bring a lot more visibility to a real and often hidden condition that people seldom take seriously.
6. Bill Murray – What About Bob? (1991)
What about Bob? is a comedic approach to the mental struggles of phobias and anxiety while maintaining an accurate representation throughout. Bill Murray plays Bob, a character who struggles with a number of mental health challenges and how he navigates his daily life.
But his film is more than just a quirky 90s comedy. It’s a refreshingly sharp, at times uncomfortable, and brilliant exploration of how a person with multiple phobias deals with them. This story uses humour effectively to shed light on the complexities of mental health care and the dynamics between patients and therapists.
Murray delivers an exceptional performance, delivering a childlike innocence that charms audiences, as he’s a bundle of anxiety with every imaginable phobia, from germophobia to death anxiety. But he also perfectly portrays the clingy, needy and subtly manipulative patient that every therapist dreads.
Other notable mentions include Leonardo DiCaprio in the coming-of-age drama ‘What’s Eating Gilbert Grape’ (1993), Zendaya as a drug addict in the popular series Euphoria (2019), Anthony Hopkins in his Academy Award-winning performance of battling dementia and Alzheimer’s in The Father (2021), and Bradley Cooper as a man with bipolar disorder in the film Silver Linings Playbook (2012).
To Sum Up
Entertainment forms like films and TV series have the power to educate viewers, shape perceptions, and, more importantly, influence attitudes on mental health. The stories and characters from these films and shows can evoke powerful responses in viewers who may see their own struggles accurately represented on the screen.