Impostor Syndrome, even famous actors have it! 'Money Heist' star Jaime Lorente talks about it

Stress, anxiety, and the feeling of occupying a prominent position in a place where he doesn't belong. Those are some of the symptoms causing Jaime Lorente (Denver in the Netflix series 'Money Heist') to realize that he suffers from a mental health problem.

The actor was a participant in the Spanish interview program 'Salvados' and spoke openly about the psychological disorder with which he'd been diagnosed. He also explained how he manages to overcome it every day, with the help of specialists.

Impostor Syndrome (Impostorism) is a dominant feeling that makes the patient unable to recognize their achievements and worth. It causes the patient to fear that they will be "caught" as an "impostor," or a "fraud," someone who doesn't belong to be where they are - in their workplace, school, or in any situation for which people need certain qualifications.

"I've always been a very insecure person, and after the success of 'Money Heist,' it has gone much further," the actor said.

He continued, "It's about the fear of not feeling loved, not measuring up and failing. It's something I could keep a secret before, because I wasn't so exposed. But now things are different."

The actor explained that he couldn't manage his worldwide success and had to resort to psychological help.

"Before, I didn't earn a penny and I was happy," he says. "All of a sudden, 'Money Heist' blows up and I'm a sad person. That's when I ask myself: now that I'm getting what I always thought I wanted, am I falling into a depression?"

"I felt bad that I had overlooked relationships with friends and family to get [what I wanted]. After I got it, I saw this was wrong. I felt I had fought for a dream that was not mine."

According to Jaime Lorente, the sudden fame and the coverage of the press about his private life led him to fall into a depression.

For Jaime Lorente, there were "days of wanting to leave everything." All this led him to ask a therapist for help.

"This is a very common problem in my profession," Lorente told his interviewers. "Fortunately, more and more people of my generation are going into therapy and talk openly about these issues."

"I'm still in the process of locating where the problem is, but little by little I'm getting better," he said.

Jaime Lorente was born in Murcia (Spain) in December 1991. He worked in several theater shows until, in 2016, he debuted on TV in the series 'El Secreto del Puente Viejo' ('The Secret of the Old Bridge,' photo).

A year later came the success of 'Money Heist', one of the most-watched Netflix series in the world. Lorente's face also became known when, in parallel, he joined the cast of 'Elite', another success of the streaming platform.

In 'Elite', he played opposite Maria Pedraza (photo), who was his girlfriend in real life at the time. Currently, Lorente shares his days with Marta Goenaga and their daughter Amaia, born in November 2021.

In 2020, Jaime Lorente showed all his talent in the skin of an important character in the history of Spain: Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, or 'El Cid.' The series, on Amazon Prime Video, is set in the Middle Ages.

But most known, by far, was the Netflix series 'Money Heist' in which Lorente played the bank robber Denver. Designed as a limited series, 'Money Heist' ('La Casa de Papel' in Spanish) was so popular that it continued for four extra seasons. The story came to an end in 2021.