Tom Pelphrey’s Immense Gratitude for Sobriety, Jung, and Fiancée Kaley Cuoco

Video Description

A decade ago, the actor Tom Pelphrey couldn’t have imagined the shape his life would take today: a father to a two-year-old daughter, starring in the new HBO series Task alongside Mark Ruffalo, and engaged to actress Kaley Cuoco. He was gripped by alcoholism and dissociation, having spent years working long, demanding days on the soap opera Guiding Light and ignoring his feelings to keep up with the grind. Then, he broke loose and started to heal. We talk about the realizations and practices that helped him get here (and to projects like Ozark) — including, at first, acquainting himself with the uncomfortable thoughts he’d been trying so hard to avoid. It’s clear from our conversation that Tom is tremendously grateful, and it’s inspiring to see him on the other end of these struggles. Get up to $200 off Square hardware when you sign up at https://square.com/go/failbetter! #squarepod 🔗 Listen to more episodes! 🎧 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5P9SJGolq3Nh0MQYEfcmkv?si=29801419ed1c489f 🍎 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fail-better-with-david-duchovny/id1742253720 🌐 All platforms: https://lemonada.lnk.to/failbetterYT 📺 Subscribe for new videos every Tuesday: https://www.youtube.com/@FailBetterwithDavidDuchovny 📬 Join our newsletter for Fail Better news and updates: https://lemonadamedia.com/newsletter/ 📲 Follow Lemonada on social media @lemonadamedia 📲 Follow David on Instagram @davidduchovny For a list of current sponsors and discount codes for this and every other Lemonada show, go to lemonadamedia.com/sponsors. 00:00 Intro 00:52 Living in the mountains 02:25 The impact of Tom’s high school teacher and early acting career 05:54 Rutgers, Guiding Light, and learning by doing 09:47 Continuous self-improvement as an actor 11:51 David’s early days on X-Files 16:06 Tom leaving the soap opera and losing structure 18:03 The paradigm shift and getting sober 21:27 Shame and prioritizing well-being 23:43 The fear of losing your creative edge if sober or in therapy 26:53 David has a breakthrough about dissociating and acting 30:14 Tom realizes he’s an intense guy, but Jung can help 34:00 Accidentally doing the 12 Steps 37:09 The time David took some bad gummies (negative self-talk) 43:10 Tom’s character in A Man in Full 45:53 Meeting Kaley Cuoco and having his daughter