Tragic Details About Patrick J. Adams

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The following article includes references to alcohol use.

Anyone with a Netflix account — or at least an obsession with legal dramas — probably knows who Patrick J. Adams is. He's the guy who played Mike Ross on "Suits," the genius with a photographic memory who somehow finessed his way into one of New York City's top law firms. And let's not forget his other claim to pop culture fame: he just happens to have had the privilege of playing the husband of Meghan Markle's character, Rachel Zane. So yeah, he's that guy.

On paper, Adams seems like he's living the dream. His breakout role on "Suits" made him one of TV's most beloved characters, and while his projects thereafter haven't quite reached the same level of fame, they've been nothing to scoff at. He's directed, starred in a film alongside his wife Troian Bellisario, and is a hands-on dad to their two daughters. From the outside, it all looks pretty perfect.

But of course, as with most things in life, the reality is far more complicated. Adams has faced some serious struggles that prove even the guy who played Mike Ross doesn't always have it together. His parents' divorce during his teenage years forced him to grapple with the complexities of a broken family. And while he may have come out stronger, life didn't exactly get easier. From walking away from a career-defining role because of his drinking to dealing with the fallout in his family, Adams' life has been anything but smooth sailing. Here's a lowdown on those moments that show us that even TV's smartest fake lawyer isn't immune to tragedy.

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Not every Hollywood story is a fairytale, and Patrick J. Adams knows this all too well. While some stars hit the jackpot early, Adams was the total opposite, and at one point, it seemed like he might not make it at all.

Things started on a high note when Adams landed a role in an indie film before even graduating from college. Spoiler alert: the company making it went bust. "I was stuck in Red Deer, Alberta, they wouldn't even fly us home," he shared with the Cape Cod Times. Then came a promising role in a play straight out of school, which had Adams thinking he was on the brink of stardom. "I thought I was set. 'This is it!' Right after that, there was nothing, so I started doing little things on TV. It was a period of real transition for me and my work."

Eventually, Adams scored a regular gig on a TV show — except that ended up being a total disaster, too. But as it turns out, getting fired from that job might have been the best thing to ever happen to him. "I probably would be addicted to painkillers and just really unhappy, if that whole thing had worked out. It was not a great show, and it fell apart," he told Collider. And just when things seemed bleak, the project that would catapult him to stardom landed in his lap. "I was pretty miserable. Everybody on my team was trying to find a great project that would pull me out of the hole that I was in, and along came Mike Ross." And the rest, as they say, is history.

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Patrick J. Adams may have struck gold with "Suits," earning a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for his portrayal of Mike Ross and riding the wave of a show that lasted 9 seasons and built a cult following. But behind the scenes, the actor's life was far from the picture-perfect success story fans imagined. As it turns out, the price of fame for Adams included misery and an alcohol problem — issues that ultimately pushed him to exit the show in its 7th season, along with co-star Meghan Markle.

In a guest appearance on Jesse Tyler Ferguson's "Dinner's on Me" podcast, Adams opened up about why he left "Suits" before its grand finale. While his official spiel at the time cited exploring other creative projects as the reason for leaving, the truth was much darker. "I wasn't taking good care of my mental health, and I was drinking too much [at] the end of Season 7," he revealed. "I was in a zone of living a pretty unexamined life. Pretty miserable [and], I would say, pretty depressed. I didn't have the tools to deal with that depression beyond just spending money and drinking too much and not really knowing how to talk about it." After some hard self-reflection, Adams realized he was staying on the show purely for the paycheck, which wasn't helping his struggles. "It's time to go home and do some work and change some things up," he shared.

Patrick J. Adams' drinking didn't just throw a wrench into his career — it also turned him into the kind of dad no one wants to be. On the "Dinner's on Me" podcast, the actor also got brutally honest about how his self-destructive habits were affecting his relationship with his daughters, Aurora and Elliot. For a while, he was stuck in somewhat of a time warp, attempting to fix his problems with the same old habits that no longer served him. "[I was] still trying to live my life as a 25-year-old and doing my patterns of, like, how I would numb myself and take care of myself and, you know, deal with my insecurity and my fears," he revealed. And they just weren't working. And they were taking a toll on my relationship for sure, but also just making me, like, a very not present father."

Realizing he was missing out on precious moments with his kids was the wake-up call he desperately needed. "That for me was a breaking point when I was like, 'I think I should stop drinking probably because I don't wanna be that dad,'" he added, noting that quitting drinking wasn't just a decision to save his relationship with his daughters — it was also the key to turning his life around. "I was missing it. The best thing I think I ever did for myself was stop drinking. It just needed to happen in order for all these other things to happen."

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When Patrick J. Adams bowed out of "Suits" in 2018, he made it clear that his wife, "Pretty Little Liars" cast member Troian Bellisario, was a big part of the decision. After nearly a decade together — including two years of marriage — most of which they spent long-distance, Adams knew it was time to shift his priorities. "After seven seasons — really, eight years of being away from home and away from my now-wife and there was that pressure," he told The Hollywood Reporter at the time. "At the moment, I'm interested in taking a break. It's nice to be home. It's really nice to be with Troian, our dogs and to take the time to figure out exactly what shape I want to take my career after this."

Fast forward a few years, and Adams got even more honest about why that shift was necessary. Apparently, his drinking wasn't just a career problem — it was a marriage problem, too. "There was really no way I was gonna take my mental health seriously, take my physical health seriously, work on my marriage, work on my friendships, you know, deal with my fears and my anxiety. I just couldn't have done any of it if alcohol was still in the picture," he told Jesse Tyler Ferguson's in his "Dinner's on Me" guesting. Ultimately, he left "Suits," ditched the booze, and put his focus where it mattered: his family. "I never regretted the decision for a second," he said. "It was the right thing for my marriage."

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Being in the public eye means Patrick J. Adams isn't a stranger to backlash — and let's just say his reputation has taken a hit more than once. Case in point: He tried to call out a stranger who had the nerve to comment on his appearance at the royal wedding. After being told he looked "chunky," Adams thought he was serving a teachable moment by posting a photo of the stranger online. Spoiler alert: It backfired hard, with critics accusing him of being a bully and not the other way around. Realizing his mistake, Adams deleted the photo and issued an apology on Instagram, writing, "I'm no bully. What that woman said to us was offensive and unnecessary but I should have told her she was rude and out of line and left it at that. I'm sorry I didn't."

Years later, Adams managed to find himself in hot water again, this time over a different kind of post. During the SAG-AFTRA strike, he shared nostalgic throwback photos with his "Suits" co-stars, seemingly unaware of the timing. And unsurprisingly, the internet was quick to pounce, calling him out for being tone-deaf. But the actor was quick to issue a statement to apologize. "The last couple of days I foolishly and thoughtlessly let a trip down 'Suits' memory lane distract me from the very real and ongoing fight everyone in @sagaftra continues to wage in its effort to win our membership realistic 21st Century compensation and protections," he wrote on his Instagram Stories (via The Hollywood Reporter). "It was an embarrassing oversight for which I'm incredibly sorry. So grateful to those who gently and swiftly course corrected me here."