Actor Joe Pantoliano, 71, has appeared in more than 150 television shows and films, including “The Matrix,” “Risky Business” and “The Goonies.”

But at the height of his career, after wrapping up an Emmy Award-winning run as Ralph Cifaretto on “The Sopranos,” Pantoliano, dealing with depression and addiction, said he felt like he was “under water.” 

On Tuesday, May 2, Pantoliano will share his personal struggle with depression and his work as a mental health advocate when he delivers the keynote address at Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare’s ninth annual Mental Health Breakfast at the Hilton Memphis. 

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Pantoliano’s personal interest in mental health advocacy began on the set of the 2006 film “Canvas” about a woman with schizophrenia, played by Academy Award-winner Marcia Gay Harden, and the impact it has on her family, including her husband, played by Pantoliano. 

“It was a personal story by the director and writer, Joe Greco, who was writing from his own experience about having a mother who was diagnosed with schizophrenia,” Pantoliano said. “And how this diagnosis created shame and fear and stigma, not only within the family, but the discrimination was occurring in the neighborhood.” 

One day, during lunch with a crew of about 100, he asked how many people in the lunchroom had personally experienced some form of mental distress. 

“About 80 percent of them raised their arms,” he said. “And so, I became curious.”

Pantoliano at the time was also dealing with an addiction to painkillers but hadn’t yet drawn a connection between that and his depression. 

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“You have a DIS-EASE, and so when you want that disease to dissipate or go away, you turn to the social elements — alcohol, drugs, sex — all the things that are going to make you feel better temporarily,” he said. “And then you have a whole other layer of problems that stem from the initial problem, which is ‘I feel terrible about myself and I want it to go away.’” 

Pantoliano sought help from a psychiatrist, who diagnosed him with clinical depression and prescribed medication to treat it. 

After booking an acting job, Pantoliano was required to get a physical for insurance purposes. He disclosed he was taking a prescription antidepressant, which later resulted in a call from his lawyer, who said the insurance company had refused to cover him. 

Pantoliano felt he was being stigmatized for having sought help for a common but serious mental illness. 

“That’s when I started talking to a lot of people — high-profile celebrities that said, ‘Oh, well, I just lie and I don’t tell I’m taking it,’” he said. “And that’s why I decided I was going to become an advocate.”

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After he delivers his keynote address at Tuesday’s breakfast, Pantoliano plans to open up the floor for questions. 

“(Will discuss) What it was like, what happened, and how I manage and regulate my life today, and then I love to open it up to questions because there’s more questions than I have answers,” he said. 

In 2009, Pantoliano released a documentary called “No Kidding, Me Too” in which he explored the devastating effects of mental illness and the stigma that surrounds it. 

In the film, Pantoliano shared his own struggle with clinical depression, and the film included frank discussions of mental illness with the Pantoliano family, as well as several other individuals from different walks of life, including a surgeon with bipolar disorder. 

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“I feel like there are two types of people: there are those of us that have an understanding that we have a mental uneasiness that can be treated, and then those of us who don’t yet know that we have a problem,” he said. 

Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare’s ninth annual Mental Health Breakfast will mark Pantoliano’s first visit to Memphis. 

Following the breakfast, an optional educational breakout session will follow the program with licensed professional counselor Charles Winton Jr., offering a deep dive into the mental health issues and stigmas facing men. Methodist will offer continuing education unit hours for participation in both the keynote presentation and breakout session.

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The event will benefit the Dennis H. Jones Living Well Network, a free behavioral health connection resource offered through Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare that addresses challenges such as depression, anxiety and substance abuse. 

Past Mental Health Breakfast speakers include missing persons advocate Elizabeth Smart, acclaimed actress Marlee Matlin and mental health advocate Patrick Kennedy.