View from stage. #ComicCon pic.twitter.com/aIy04Cf6ak
— Jared Padalecki (@jarpad) July 12, 2015
We're right behind you, Jared! Jared Padalecki was feeling the warm glow of his fan love on Sunday, July 12, when the Supernatural panel at Comic-Con was brought to a temporary standstill while the audience paid tribute to the handsome actor's battle against depression.
The Gilmore Girls alum was overwhelmed when over 7,000 fans honored his brave decision to open up about his personal struggles by unexpectedly lighting candles in the audience, to support his Always Keep Fighting campaign, set up to support those dealing with mental illness, and struggling with depression, addiction, or suicidal thoughts.
As the panel moderators opened up the floor to audience questions, fans raised their faux candles in the air and shouted out a message to their idol: "Always keep fighting!"
"This is so touching and humbling and honoring," an overwhelmed Padalecki told his fans "I don't have the proper words to say thank you or how humbled and honored and excited I am and keep it up, guys. Thank y'all so much."
Later in the day he shared a photo of the moment via Twitter. “View from stage. #ComicCon,” he captioned the snap.
The CW star spoke amazingly honestly to Variety early last year about his personal battle against depression and explained the aim of his new campaign.
"I, in the past, have had my own struggles of not (being) so happy with where I am in life," he told the outlet. "Maybe a lot of people don't know this, but Season 3, we were shooting an episode, and I went back to my trailer to get changed and just kind of broke down," he explained.
"A doctor came to set and talked to me for about 30 minutes or 45 minutes and said, 'Jared, I think you're clinically depressed. I think I should write you a note and we can shut down production for five days and then we can take it from there,'" he revealed.
"There's no shame in having to fight every day," he added, explaining his new campaign. "But fighting every day, and presumably, if you're still alive to hear these words or read this interview, then you are winning your war. You're here. You might not win every battle. There are going to be some really tough days. There might be several tough times in any given single day, but hopefully, this will help somebody to think, 'This isn't easy; it is a fight, but I'm going to keep fighting.'"
