Ryan Phillippe is admitting that he thought about taking his own life following his devastating split from Reese Witherspoon in 2006.

“After the divorce, I was a physical wreck. I wanted to die,” he tells U.K. magazine Man About Town. “I was ready to kill myself. I was not taking care of myself at all. I would wake up and cry and vomit.”

The heartbreak, however, has at least helped Ryan’s acting skills: He can cry on cue.

“Now, it’s f---king easy," he says. "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, 33, split from Reese after seven years of marriage. They share custody of kids Ava, 8, and Deacon, 4.