Eventually, he passed on the role to another actor, but now, he’s opening up about his experience on the children’s show and his mental health struggles over the years. Burns spoke with Variety ahead of his appearance in the new movie, Blue’s Big City Adventure, revealing that he dealt with severe clinical depression while playing Steve on Blue’s Clues from 1996 to 2002, calling himself “the happiest depressed person in North America.” He said, “It was my job to be utterly and completely full of joy and wonder at all times, and that became impossible. I was always able to dig and find something that felt authentic to me that was good enough to be on the show, but after years and years of going to the well without replenishing it, there was a cost.” The actor said that he only started addressing his mental health more recently after his father passed in 2015. Burns explained, “My strategy had been: ‘Hey, you got a great thing going, so just fight it!’ Turns out, you don’t fight depression; you collect it. After I left Blue’s Clues, there was a long period of healing. It wasn’t until the death of my father that I really started to take things seriously, and my life became so much more manageable.” Living in Brooklyn for most of his adult life, Burns shared that he cared for his father as he was dying from cancer, and that experience changed his perspective. “It made me think about things I hadn’t thought about, like legacy and the value of the things we’ve left behind,” he said. While reevaluating everything, Burns decided to move to the Catskills and live a calmer, more secluded life. But don’t worry, Burns still holds his experience working on Blue’s Clues very dear to his heart, and he’s happy to be returning to his classic character in the new movie. Burns will play Steve once again in Blue’s Big City Adventure, which comes out on Nov. 18 on Paramount+. More News:
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