The 'Arrow' star talks the 'mental fear' of him ruining his new series 'Heels' after he tested positive for coronavirus, despite always being 'really good about mask wearing' and social distancing.

• Oct 28, 2020

AceShowbiz - Stephen Amell had a secret battle with COVID-19. The actor has just revealed that he recently tested positive for coronavirus during the filming of his new series "Heels". He opened up about his battle with the disease in an interview with actor Michael Rosenbaum for the Tuesday, October 27 episode of "Inside of You" podcast, which was recorded after he was released from a three-week quarantine.

At the time, the 39-year-old said he stopped work on the wrestling drama after a crew member tested positive. The actor then tested positive "for whatever reason" the following Monday, though he's not sure where he could've gotten it from.

While he "never worried about the lethal aspect" of the novel virus, Amell said he's "always been really good about mask wearing about social distancing, just following the rules, not going to a huge house party or... super large gatherings where people aren't wearing masks." He added, "But I also haven't been totally afraid of it, which I know certain people are and certain people have the absolute right to be, whether you have a preexisting condition or you're elderly."

But when he had the virus, he was dealing with the "mental fear" that the diagnosis brought, including his fear that he's hugely affecting his show's production. "I'm in my head going, 'S**t! They're going to have to shut down the production. We're not yet done with the first block of two episodes. Did I just ruin this?' " he shared.

Fortunately, the show only shut down production for one day before the crew returned to shoot other material around Amell, while he was recovering. "What they were able to do is mind boggling, quite frankly," he admitted. "It just goes to show that they were prepared for it, but not everyone has the luxury of taking two weeks off."

Amell also talked about his symptoms, saying he "never ran a fever," but first noticed he woke up with a plugged ear. "For two nights, I was up every couple of hours vacillating between freezing cold and boiling hot," he recalled. "And I would be freezing cold because I sweat through all my stuff. So, I get up, dry off, change my clothes, get back into bed, warm up, and then start sweating again, and the cycle would just [on] repeat."

The "Arrow" alum added that he lost his appetite, which resulted in him losing 15 lbs. over three weeks. He also constantly felt "super dizzy," which was akin to vertigo when he rose into a standing position too fast.

On why he opened up about his bout with the disease, Amell said "there is a lot of fear-mongering going on about it," which was the "most difficult part about" having COVID-19. "There's a lot of conjecture and there's a lot of people that are basically trying to scare the s**t out of you a little bit," he added.

The interview marks Amell's return to the podcast after he had a panic attack during his visit nine months ago. He ended up not being able to finish the episode at the time.