Actor Samantha Ruth Prabhu has spoken candidly about one of the most difficult phases of her life, revealing how her diagnosis with myositis forced her to step back and reassess her relationship with fame, success and her career. While promoting her upcoming Telugu film Maa Inti Bangaram, Samantha reflected on the years she spent chasing achievements and admitted that she had become “addicted to the game of stardom.”In an interview with Gulte, the actor shared that she spent much of her early career believing she was part of a race that constantly demanded more success, more films and bigger milestones. Looking back now, she says that perspective has changed completely.“I think I was also young and very very keen to run the race,” Samantha said. “After my second break, I realised there is no race. You realise it is a hallucination that there is a race, that there is competition, that there is someone to beat or there is a finish line. Now I’m not running any race and I don’t see any finish line.”From a small-town girl to one of Indian cinema’s biggest starsSamantha recalled how unexpected fame was when she first entered the film industry. Coming from a modest background, she said she never imagined she would experience the level of popularity she eventually achieved.“It was shocking to me that a girl from nowhere, like from a small town, experienced stardom and people love me,” she said. “They were loving me on the big screen. They are looking forward to watching my films. They are screaming my name.”The attention and success became a powerful motivator. Samantha admitted that she became deeply invested in maintaining that momentum and began measuring her worth through professional achievements.“With this surprise, I worked in films. I was addicted to the game of stardom.”The actor revealed that during that phase, she was constantly working and taking on projects without stopping to evaluate whether they were creatively fulfilling.“I’ve done a bunch of films I’m not proud of,” she admitted. “There was a phase where I did a bunch of films I wasn’t proud of.”She also recalled a period when she delivered several commercial hits in quick succession and felt compelled to meet the expectations that followed.“In a year, I remember that I made five movies back to back, and all of them were hits, so people thought I had a golden leg and I believed that I should live up to the expectations.”According to Samantha, success became the focus, while questions about growth as an actor often took a back seat.“Not at one point did I feel like, do I not have talent, can I improve, what am I contributing to this film. I had a blockbuster and I was settling for that back in the day. It never felt like I was getting back whatever I wanted to get back from cinema.”Myositis diagnosis became a turning pointAlthough Samantha had faced a health setback early in her career, she admitted that the experience did not change her approach to work.“Apparently I learnt nothing from my first break, because I got into the hustle of things back to back again, five films a year, six. So apparently I didn’t learn too much from that. Most change came from this break, not that.”Everything shifted in 2022 when she was diagnosed with myositis, a rare autoimmune condition. At the time, she was working extensively and had no plans of slowing down.“When I had to take that break recently, I was hustling the most,” Samantha said. “I wanted to do many films and keep doing it. I never thought there would be retirement. You become so egoistic as an actor that you see no end, you refuse to see there is an end.”The forced pause, she explained, helped her understand that a career is not endless and that life cannot revolve solely around professional success.“After this recent break, I could envision that end for me, and that really changed me in many ways.”A fresh start with new prioritiesThe actor said the period away from work led her to rethink several aspects of her life and career. She decided that if she returned to films, she would do so differently.“I made certain decisions during the break, like if I come back to this profession after the break, I will have to change a lot of things, a lot of old patterns.”Samantha believes she has followed through on those decisions since resuming work.“The moment I came back to work, I made all those changes. In terms of brands, films, opening my own production company. The changes were 360 degree change. Now I am living my life with a purpose I’ve given it to myself.”