Actor Todd Latourette recently revealed that he willingly cut off his right arm to pose as a war veteran in order to be cast in better roles.

Latourette said that his extreme decision was made some 17 years ago when he was off his medication, New Mexico’s KOB4-TV reported.

“I severed my hand with a Skil saw,” he told the New Mexico news outlet. “The state of my mind was a psychotic episode.”

Latourette has only had modest roles over the course of his career, nabbing small parts in the AMC drama Better Call Saul and one episode of A&E’s Longmire.

He’s now back on his meds and says he chose to come forward because it was difficult to live a lie, although he acknowledges that the admonition could hurt his career.

“I was dishonorable,” he said. “I’m killing my career by doing this, if anyone thinks this was for personal edification, that’s not the case.”