Eric Roberts feared his acting career was over at the age of 27 after being involved in a car accident.

The 69-year-old actor told how he fell into a deep depression after suffering "short-term memory loss" and difficulties with hand-eye co-ordination after the crash so it came as a surprise when he was cast in Bob Fosse's 1983 movie Star 80.

Asked what life was like when he was cast in the movie during an appearance on the It Happened In Hollywood podcast, he said: "It was a really odd, peculiar, hard time for me because the year before that I had an automobile accident and I was in a coma for a little bit.

"And, so I thought my days as an actor were probably over, if not very much numbered and, was going through the deepest depression I've ever had in my life."

During his dark period, Eric received a call from his manager who had been given a "Bob Fosse script" by a casting director who hadn't been supposed to pass it on.

His manager said: "I'm giving it to you to read because I think you should go for it. I know you're a big fan of Bob Fosse."

However, the script - which told the story of Playboy model Dorothy Stratten who was murdered by her husband Paul Snider, who went on to take his own life - failed to capture Eric's interest but he still auditioned to play Paul because of his interest in working with the director.

He said: "I didn't like it because it seemed too black and white to me.

"It seemed too bad guy, good girl, put upon, oppressive. It just seemed too black and white, and it wasn't interesting. Even though it was a true story, it didn't light me up.

"So I was not really interested in it as a script, but I was interested in it because of Bob Fosse."

Eric worked "very hard" on his audition and after "five or six" appearances in front of the director, he was offered the role of Paul.

And after spending three months researching the part, the actor grew to understand the point of the movie.

He said: "Everybody thinks it's [an] unusual tale because of how it ended, but Paul Sniders are a dime a dozen.

"They surround us. They're all around us."

He noted that working in showbiz, people are surrounded by "obnoxiousness," "ego" and "pointless coolness" all day.

He added: "They are not unusual. That's why the story is so valuable. These guys are not unusual. . . . They just don't end up murder suicides. But that goes on all the time."

The Runaway Train actor has notched up over 700 acting credits over the years and previously admitted he feels like "one of the luckiest guys in Hollywood".

He told The Hollywood Reporter: "We get anywhere from eight to 30 offers every single day from all over the world.

"It's just so much fun to have all these offers and get to play such an extreme range of characters."