Owen Wilson attempted suicide on August 26, 2007, according to a Santa Monica Police Department call log that listed the reason for a 911 call from his home as “attempt suicide.” He was hospitalized, recovered, and returned to acting within months, a period he’s spoken about only sparingly in the years since.
Key facts strip
- Date: Sunday, August 26, 2007, with the 911 call logged at 12:08 p.m. and the incident cleared at 5:07 p.m.
- Hospitalization: Taken first to St. John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, then to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles
- Public confirmation: The Santa Monica Police Department’s official call log, obtained by “Extra” and cited by ABC News and Fox News
What’s Actually Confirmed
Police and paramedics responded to a call at Wilson’s Santa Monica home on August 26, 2007. The Santa Monica Police Department’s “Calls for Service” report listed the reason for the call as “attempt suicide,” per ABC News‘ contemporary reporting. Wilson’s brother Luke found him at the house, according to a source who spoke to “Extra” at the time.
Wilson was taken first to St. John’s Health Center, then transferred to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where a hospital publicist described him as in “good condition,” per Fox News. He issued a brief statement through his publicist asking for privacy: “I respectfully ask that the media allow me to receive care and heal in private during this difficult time.”
The Dated Timeline
- August 23, 2007 — Wilson visits a Santa Monica church. Us Weekly’s contemporary reporting cites this visit three days before the incident, without further detail on the context.
- August 26, 2007 — Police respond to a 911 call at Wilson’s home. The Santa Monica Police Department’s call log records the call at 12:08 p.m. and lists “attempt suicide” as the reason, per ABC News.
- August 26, 2007 — Wilson is hospitalized. He’s taken to St. John’s Health Center before being transferred to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, per Fox News.
- August 27, 2007 — Wilson releases a statement through his publicist. He asks the media for privacy “during this difficult time.”
- August 29, 2007 — Wilson withdraws from “Tropic Thunder.” Daily Variety and The Hollywood Reporter both confirm his exit from the Ben Stiller-directed film, then six weeks into production, per Fox News’ reporting.
- Following weeks, 2007 — Wilson’s brother Andrew moves in with him. This detail, establishing a daily routine during his recovery, appears in later retrospective coverage of the period.
- 2008 — Wilson returns to acting. He resumes his film career within roughly a year of the incident, appearing in subsequent projects without further public health incidents reported.
What Wilson Has Said About It, On the Record
Wilson has discussed this period only rarely and in general terms. In a 2021 Esquire interview, he drew a comparison between life’s hardships and a scene from “The Revenant,” describing struggle as “some nightmarish dude trying to kill you,” and adding: “When life’s being played by that guy, you just gotta hang on and wait for it to pass.” He didn’t address the 2007 incident directly in that comparison.
Beyond that kind of oblique reference, Wilson has not given a detailed, on-the-record account of the incident itself in any interview reviewed for this article.
What We Still Don’t Have Full Numbers On
Several specifics from this period remain genuinely unconfirmed by a named, primary source.
- The exact underlying cause. Contemporary reporting cited unnamed sources pointing to depression and a recent breakup, while a Wilson representative denied specific claims about drug use reported by tabloids at the time. No verified, on-record statement from Wilson himself confirms a single cause.
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- The full extent of his recovery process. Later coverage references his brother Andrew moving in and establishing a routine, but no primary source details the length or structure of this period.
- Whether Wilson has addressed the incident directly in any interview since. Available reporting shows only indirect references, like his 2013 Esquire comment, rather than a direct account.
Anyone stating more certainty than this on these points is going beyond what the verified record supports.
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Where This Fits in Wilson’s Broader Public Record
This incident sits alongside other parts of Wilson’s public history that this site has documented, including his two confirmed nose fractures from his teenage and college years and his family life as the father of three children.
Unlike those other topics, Wilson has kept this specific period almost entirely out of his public commentary since 2007, a pattern consistent with how he’s generally avoided the tabloid-scandal cycle throughout his career.
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Where Things Stand Today
As of this writing, no further public health incident of this kind has been reported for Wilson since 2007. He’s continued a steady acting career in the years since, most recently headlining Apple TV+’s “Stick,” and has not given any interview that directly revisits the details of the 2007 incident.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Did Owen Wilson attempt suicide?
Yes. Police responded to a 911 call at his home on August 26, 2007, and a Santa Monica Police Department log listed the reason as “attempt suicide.”
Was Owen Wilson hospitalized?
Yes. He was taken to St. John’s Health Center and later transferred to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where he was listed in good condition.
Did Owen Wilson explain what happened?
Not in detail. He’s referenced the broader period of struggle only obliquely, including in a 2013 Esquire interview, without giving a direct account of the incident itself.
How did this affect Wilson’s career?
He withdrew from “Tropic Thunder” in August 2007 but returned to acting within about a year, continuing a steady film career since.
Is Owen Wilson still working today?
Yes. He currently stars in Apple TV+’s “Stick,” which was renewed for a second season.
Disclaimer: These details reflect publicly available reporting and official police records from 2007 — not confirmed statements from every individual involved.
