The actor and presenter who suffers from bipolar disorder was interviewed before a live audience by Richard Herring for the comedian’s Leicester Square  Theatre Podcast.

Fry revealed how he had been abroad filming last year when he tried to take his own life by swallowing a large number of pills with vodka.

It was only when his producer found him unconscious in his bedroom and raised the alarm that he was revived. The cocktail of pills and alcohol though caused his body to convulse so fiercely that he broke several ribs.

“I am the victim of my own moods, more than most people are perhaps, in as much as I have a condition which requires me to take medication so that I don’t get either too hyper or too depressed to the point of suicide,” Fry said.

Fry is the president of mental health charity Mind, and decided to speak out to combat the stigma and lack of knowledge that surrounds depression and mental health issues.

“The whole point in my role, as I see it,” Fry said, “is not to be shy and forthcoming about the morbidity and genuine nature of the likelihood of death amongst people with certain mood disorders.”

Photo: Getty.