Actor Ryan Phillippe says he can related to the emotional struggles of his on-screen characters because he has himself struggled depression all his life. The 40-year-old actor, who plays a tormented man suspected of murder on the new ABC series 'Secrets and Lies', called himself a sad person, reported People magazine. "Depression has been a huge obstacle for me ever since I was a child. As you get older I think it decreases some, but I'm just innately kind of a sad person," he said. "I'm empathetic, and I take on the feelings of others and transpose myself into the position of others. It's just, some people do have this pervading sort of sadness, or they're so analytical that they can kind of take the fun out of things because they think too much," Phillippe said. The 'Cruel Intentions' actor also explained that the heavy feeling of sadness has its value. "If it was a choice between being this way or being completely ignorant, I'd prefer to suffer through the sadness than to be a complete moron with no feelings," he said.
