Ryan Phillippe's suicidal split

Nov 14, 2007, 7:30 GMT

Ryan Phillippe (pictured), Abbie Cornish and Sean Bean have signed on for the Viking saga, \'Last Battle Dreamer,\' which is to be filmed in the United Kingdom. © Glenn Harris / Photorazzi

Ryan Phillippe contemplated suicide after splitting from ex-wife Reese Witherspoon.

The 'Crash' actor - whose divorce from the 'Walk the Line' actress was finalised last month - considered taking his own life because he couldn't stop crying and vomiting.

He said: "After the divorce, I was a physical wreck. I wanted to die. I was ready to kill myself. I was not taking care of myself at all. I would wake up and cry and vomit."

Luckily, Ryan - who shares custody of the couple's children, eight-year-old Ava and four-year-old Deacon, with Reese - pulled through and believes the experience has made him a better actor.

He added to Man About Town magazine: "Now, it's f***ing easy to cry on cue. When I was younger, I didn't have enough to cry about. But since I've had kids, I feel my work has become better, because my life is fuller and more complicated, and I've experienced so many highs and lows."

Ryan recently revealed how his children helped him get through the divorce.

He said: "I know it sounds pathetic - I'm a 33-year-old guy but my daughter is getting me through the toughest time in my life, and that's beautiful.

"Deacon's fun, every day he says something that makes me laugh, warms my heart. It ain't easy. It's devastating but the bottom line is I have to focus on the children, and they're doing amazingly well and that's really all that matters."

(C) BANG Media International