'How To Get Away With Murder' Karla Souza Reveals Suicidal Past During Inspiring 'TED Talk'

If you thought Karla Souza was just another pretty face in Hollywood, prepare to be amazed.

The Mexican actress, who gained notoriety in the United States when the queen of television, Shonda Rhimes, chose her to play Laura Castillo in the ABC hit show “How To Get Away With Murder,” bravely explained the struggles of becoming an actor during an inspiring “TED Talk” in Guanajuato, Mexico.

“People normally think that fame and success are something wonderful and easy to navigate,” she said. “These tests [dealing with constant rejection during auditions] for me generate fruits such as forgiveness, perseverance, discipline, character, hope. They mold my craft.”

During her talk, the 30-year-old chilanga emphasized the need of a “motive” in order to make it big in the entertainment business, or in any other field. To exemplify her idea, she shared a personal story in which she revealed one of the darkest times in her life, where she actually thought about taking her own life.

“One day, without knowing why, I lost my voice for three months,” she confessed. “I couldn’t talk. For three months, I couldn’t say one sentence. Not one specialist was able to tell me what was wrong.”

She continued, “What I can tell you is that I had a moment in which I was so frustrated and desperate, that it came to the point of me wanting to take my own life.”

Luckily for Souza, her family, her husband and her fans, she found hope in art, which she claims saved her life.

Souza made her small screen debut in Televisa’s 2008 TV series “Terminales,” co-starring Ana Claudia Talancón. In 2010, she was already crossing over with her participation in the NBC drama “Persons Uknown.”

Since then, the multilingual star has been able to work with other renowned talents such as Viola Davis, Alfonso Herrera, Luis Gerardo Méndez, Pedro Damián, Omar Chaparro, Adrián Uribe, to name a few.

Watch Souza’s “TED Talk” below, and in William Shakespeare’s words: “Sweet are the uses of adversity.”