Actor Eric Dane is battling depression, and he's taking time off to manage it.
"The Last Ship" star, best known as Dr. Mark "McSteamy" Sloan from "Grey's Anatomy," is taking a break from his TNT naval drama to deal with "personal issues."
"Eric asked for a break to deal with personal issues," his representative said in a statement to The Times. "He suffers from depression and has asked for a few weeks of downtime and the producers kindly granted that request."
Production has been shut down temporarily, and Dane, 44, "looks forward to returning" to work, the representative said.
The series, based on William Brinkley's post-apocalyptic novel of the same name, recently aired its third season and has been renewed for 10-episode fourth and fifth seasons. Production on Season 5, which was shot back-to-back to Season 4, has been shuttered through Memorial Day, as first reported by Variety. The fourth season is reportedly done with shooting, so the hiatus should not affect its upcoming summer premiere date.
The summer drama chronicles life aboard a Navy destroyer in the aftermath of a global tragedy that has nearly decimated the world's population. Dane's Capt. Tom Chandler is among the few survivors.
The star, who is married to and shares two young daughters with actress Rebecca Gayheart, has been candid about his personal struggles in the past. He checked himself into a 30-day rehab program in 2011 to manage an addiction to prescription painkillers that were originally prescribed after a sports injury.
