(Cover) - EN Showbiz - Mark Ruffalo had a panic attack on his first day directing a movie.

The star helmed Sympathy for Delicious, which he also co-wrote, helped produce and appears in. The movie is about a rock band who are on the verge of making it big. They decide to allow a wheelchair-bound DJ join the group, who has the ability to heal people through his music.

Mark was petrified he wouldnt be able to handle directing the picture, but says its stars including Orlando Bloom, Juliette Lewis and Christopher Thornton helped him through.

I was terrified day one of shooting, he told New York Post. A panic attack. I sat curled in a corner of my trailer thinking, 'I'm going to direct a movie? Who do I think I am?' Then, 'OK. Breathe. Face it and make it. Smile. So, loudly, I said, 'Good morning' to each person.

As he became more comfortable behind the camera Mark gradually began to enjoy the experience, although he isnt sure itll be something he repeats.

Christopher plays DJ 'Delicious' Dean O'Dwyer, who can help people with his tunes, and he and Mark have known each other for a long time. Thats part of the reason Mark was so keen to be involved with the movie, and why he didnt let nerves get the better of him.

This began 20 years ago in Stella Adler's acting class with Salma Hayek, Benicio del Toro and Christopher, who then had a climbing accident. Broke his spine. We got him back acting, but he knew a wheelchair case wouldn't get a role unless he wrote a screenplay himself, Mark explained.

A year later he pitched a 196-page draft. An imaginative original idea for a guy in a wheelchair with powers to heal the unhealable. We improved, revised, rewrote. It was scary. I then needed financing. Took 11 years. (C) Cover Media