The One Skill Chris Rock Didn't Learn Until He Was 55 Years Old
Like regular folks, celebrities suddenly had plenty of time in their hands when the world shut down in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Rita Wilson, who was among the first Hollywood stars to get infected by the virus, said she made use of her free time by focusing on her family and making space for creativity. "Not having the distractions of 'busyness' allowed for the most important things to be foremost," she said (via Parade). "I felt a creative wave hit and I was able to record and release 'Where's My Country Song?' during quarantine. Being able to have a creative outlet was such a gift."
Others focused on their health by working on their fitness goals, like Tiffany Hadish, who lost a total of 40 pounds during the COVID-19 quarantine period, per People. Some took up new hobbies, like Ed Sheeran, who developed a green thumb and spent much of his time at home tending to his garden... and chickens. "It is a simple pleasure for him away from the madness of the music world," a source told The Sun (via the Daily Mail).
Meanwhile, others took advantage of the lockdown by unlocking a new skill, like Harry Styles, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Chris Rock, who, at the age of 55, finally learned how to swim. "Once I started realizing I had all this time, it was like 'I got to work on me," Rock revealed on "The Ellen Show." "'What can I do?' I got an instructor and I finally learned how to swim."
Chris Rock dives deep
The irony was not lost on Chris Rock that, for 20 years, he's had a house with a pool that he couldn't use because he didn't know how to swim. But starting in 2020, he finally could. Rock first spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about learning how to swim and adding it to his fitness regimen so he could build his washboard abs. "Do you know how f***ing hard it is for a grown-up to learn how to swim? You've got to not be scared to die," he said. "The other day, this guy says to me, 'OK, you're going to dive into the deep end and swim to the other side,' and I'm like, 'Are you f***ing crazy?' But then I dove into the deep end and I swam to the other side."
Rock said much of learning how to swim is learning how to relax and just let go — "a perfect metaphor for life," as he'd described on "The Howard Stern Show." "You're just drowning, and you have to learn to let go of things, and you have to learn to relax," he said. He also described the experience as humbling. "It's a physical feat but it's a lot of just letting go," he continued. "Because you float naturally — a part of you just floats naturally... Well, not as much when you're Black, but still."
Chris Rock seeks therapy
However, swimming wasn't the only thing that kept Chris Rock occupied during the coronavirus quarantine. In his profile for The Hollywood Reporter, the actor and stand-up comedian shared that he also committed to therapy, attending seven hours worth of sessions per week with not one, but two therapists. According to the publication, Rock decided to seek meaningful help after a friend suggested he may have Asperger's syndrome, a form of Autism Spectrum Disorder. Rock then underwent a series of cognitive tests and was diagnosed with a nonverbal learning disorder or NVLD. The condition makes it difficult for him to understand non-verbal signals. "All I understand are the words," Rock said himself.
Speaking to Extra in 2021, the "Grown Ups" actor said that going to therapy helped him cope with his condition and realize that he's not alone in his struggle. "We live in this world where everybody wants to be so self-made. And what happens is we shut ourselves off to people, we don't ask for help for a lot of things we need help for," Rock noted. "[But] we need each other. And if you can talk to people, your whole life, everything, will be better."