David Arquette has admitted he felt "inferior" during his marriage to Courteney Cox.
The actor, 51, says her mammoth earnings during the height of her Friends fame was a struggle for him; she earned up to $1million per episode for her portrayal of Monica Geller in the iconic sitcom.
David, who was by no means failing in his career during their marriage, said her success was "difficult" to swallow as he desperately wanted to be the one to "pick up the check".
He thinks this stems from his "traditional male" values to "be the breadwinner."
David told Andy Cohen Live : "In the acting world in general, you're always going on this rollercoaster of popularity and, you know, not able to get a job... so, it's like this weird thing.
"And then, when you're, you know, comparing yourself to someone who's at the, you know, top of the television, iconic world, it's kinda hard to put yourself there, so there was definitely, like, learning and dealing with that and a lot of pain and, you know, arguments or, you know, ego, early on."
He then explained how the pair worked through their issues while they were together.
He added: "A lot of it has to do with, you know, the way you're taking things.
"The way you're saying things, the way you're responding to things, the way you're, you know, allowing other sorts of outside influences affect how you feel about yourself.
"So, I think, like, building confidence or just, you know, focusing on yourself, like working out some of the pain and trauma that I had so that I could open up, like, you know, and own sort of what makes me happy, what my needs are, where my boundaries are."
The pair split up in 2013 after a 14-year marriage.
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