Re-watching this as an adult must have contributed to JB's depression
Comparing this to the first movie could do that to anyone.
shareReal adult issues and a chemical imbalance is what did him in.
Tongue-tied and twisted, just an earth-bound misfit, I
You obviously know the underlying causes of depression.
Brandis worked for a number of years after this movie. It is difficult to say exactly when his depression became an overwhelming issue, but puberty itself involves chemical changes and sometimes imbalances and as he got older, he may not have been aware of the symptoms and some of the underlying things that were working against him.
One problem that plagues young actors is the fact that Hollywood tends to feed of their young talent and then cast them aside. I think that there was a sense that his career as an actor was pretty much over. A lot of them aren't prepared for that. If you suffer from depression, it hits even harder. But it can happen at any age.
I was deeply saddened that he felt that there was no place to turn. Its difficult to fully understand what the person is going through. There should never be any stigma for a person to reach out for help.