Chris Pine gets candid about past struggle with acne: ‘I know how depressing it can be’

Chris Pine opened up about his struggle with acne in a recent podcast.

Chris Pine had to have a thick skin coming up in Hollywood amid a struggle with acne early on in his career In a recent episode of the “Happy Sad Confused” podcast, Pine said that he had “awful skin” as a teenager and after college and took issue with the fact that acne can sometimes be regarded as something only teenagers go through. In his case, he said, it was “tremendously debilitating and really seriously emotionally incapacitating.” “It was one of the most traumatic points of my life but it is my story,” he said. The discussion was prompted by the podcast’s host Josh Horowitz asking Pine how he felt about comments that “The O.C.” casting director Patrick Rush made last year in Alan Sepinwall’s 2023 book “Welcome to The O.C.: The Oral History.” In it, Rush revealed that Pine read for the role of Ryan Atwood for the series, but that his “really bad skin” at the time, to Rush, was “insurmountable.” The role of Atwood ultimately went to actor Ben McKenzie, who starred in the series during its run from 2003 to 2007. Pine candidly said that he felt like Rush “didn’t have to talk about it” in the book.