Sam Smith found strength in a Jim Carrey quote when they were struggling with their identity

Speaking to the Daily Star newspaper, they said: "My emotions can be a bit of a rollercoaster at times ... I sometimes feel this great and heavy sadness inside. I recently read a quote from Jim that summed up my feelings perfectly. 'Your body needs to be depressed. It needs deep rest from the character you've been trying to play.' There have been times where I have felt silenced. I stopped wearing what I wanted because I wanted to be a pop star. As each day went on slowly but surely my suits started to feel like straightjackets and my head started to feel more and more like a prison."

Sam previously revealed they want to be referred to "they" and "them" after a "lifetime of being at war with their gender".

They wrote on their social media account: "Today is a good day so here goes. I've decided I am changing my pronouns to THEY/THEM ... after a lifetime of being at war with my gender I've decided to embrace myself for who I am, inside and out. I'm so excited and privileged to be surrounded by people that support me in this decision but I've been very nervous about announcing this because I care too much about what people think but f**k it! I understand there will be many mistakes and mis gendering but all I ask is you please please try. I hope you can see me like I see myself now. Thank you. P.s. I am at no stage just yet to eloquently speak at length about what it means to be non binary but I can't wait for the day that I am. So for now I just want to be VISIBLE and open. If you have questions and are wondering what this all means I'll try my best to explain but I have also tagged below the human beings who are fighting the good fight everyday. These are activists and leaders of the non binary/trans community that have helped me and given me so much clarity and understanding. Love you all. I'm scared s***less, but feeling super free right now. Be kind x (sic)"