Denzel Washington gets candid about his past drug and alcohol abuse.
In a recent interview, the actor talked about his drug and alcohol abuse over 15 years. He recalls doing “a lot of damage to his body.” He that his addiction began after his hit movie, “The Hurricane,” was released, he got bitter after losing the Oscar for Best Actor to Kevin Spacey.
“I gave up. I got bitter,” he said. “So I’ll tell you, for about 15 years, from 1999 to 2014 when I put the beverage down, I was bitter.”
Washington said that he never got strung out on the drugs but he did indulge in dope and drank wine. “I was popping $4,000 bottles just because that’s what was left. And then later in those years I’d call Giul Turner’s Fine Wines and Spirits on Sunset Boulevard and say, ‘Send me two bottles, the best of this or that,’” he said.
The actor continued, “And my wife’s saying, ‘Why do you keep ordering just two?’, I said, ‘Because if I order more, I’ll drink more.’ So I kept it to two bottles, and I would drink them both over the course of the day.”
The “Gladiator II” star added that he never drank while he was getting ready for a role or while on set but he did drink in between projects. He revealed that this December will make ten years of being sober.
“I stopped at sixty and I haven’t had a thimble’s worth since,” he said. “Things are opening up for me now- like being 70. It’s real. And it’s okay. This is the last chapter- if I get another 30, what do I want to do? My mother made it to 97.”