How To Fail With Elizabeth Day ON PERSPECTIVE… With Adeel Akhtar and Pat Cummins
Dec 8, 2025
In this engaging discussion, Australian cricket captain Pat Cummins candidly shares how his mother’s illness reshaped his priorities, emphasizing the importance of family over sport. Meanwhile, actor Adeel Akhtar reflects on a pivotal moment in his career when he lost perspective, revealing how fatherhood helped him reconnect with what truly matters. Both guests explore themes of mental health, authenticity, and the preciousness of family connections, making for a heartfelt and insightful conversation.
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From Over-Detailing To Selective Energy
- Adeel Akhtar describes over-detailing roles when younger, obsessing about trivial character traits during auditions.
- Becoming a parent taught him to conserve emotional energy and focus on what truly matters in performance and life.
Authenticity Reduces Emotional Strain
- Adeel links anxiety and depression to the gap between who you are and who you perform for others.
- He finds relief by embracing his authentic, complicated self rather than performing a simplified persona.
Parenthood Reveals 'Emperor Narcissism'
- Adeel explains 'emperor narcissism' in early childhood and how parenting revealed toddlers' need to feel central.
- He says parenthood expanded his empathy and pushed him deeper into understanding complex feelings.