One of the most popular and versatile actors in Hollywood, Denzel Washington, has now admitted that he has been sober for a decade after being a heavy drinker for a while. The actor is going to be 70 next month, and it’s already been 10 years since he has touched alcohol. While promoting his new film, Gladiator II, Washington opened up about his alcoholism and shared some insights with his fans.
Over the years, Washington carefully kept his alcohol addiction a secret from his fans. Speaking about it, he explained his past habits have done a lot of damage to his body and this is the main reason why he decided to not taste a drop. Since he turned 60, he didn’t have “a thimble’s worth”.
Denzel Washington’s journey with alcohol
In a recent interview with Esquire, the two-time Oscar-winning actor shared his alcohol journey and told the outlet that it began with wine. Denzel Washington said, “Wine is very tricky. It’s very slow. It ain’t like, boom, all of a sudden.” He continued,
I learned to drink the best. So I’m gonna drink my ’61s and my ’82s and whatever we had. Wine was my thing, and now I was popping $4,000 bottles just because that’s what was left. And then later in those years I’d call Gil Turner’s Fine Wines & Spirits on Sunset Boulevard and say, ‘Send me two bottles, the best of this or that.’
His wife Pauletta once asked him why he only ordered two bottles, and the actor had replied that more bottles meant he would drink more.
So it’s better to keep to a count of two bottles, which he would enjoy over the course of the day.
Denzel Washington’s pattern of drinking
The Training Day actor admitted that he had fought a fifteen-year pattern. Washington even claimed that his journey with alcohol didn’t start in 1999 but much before that. He said in the same interview via Esquire,
I never got strung out on heroin. Never got strung out on coke. Never got strung out on hard drugs. I shot dope just like they shot dope, but I never got strung out. And I never got strung out on liquor. I had this ideal idea of wine tastings and all that—which is what it was at first. And that’s a very subtle thing. I mean, I drank the best. I drank the best.
Denzel Washington has never talked about this stuff so openly before. However, these revelations have now made the public talk about his career graph and doubt how he kept this a secret for so many years.
His alcoholism was never shown onscreen and nobody has ever complained about him being drunk on set. So, did he do that?
How did Denzel Washington keep his alcohol addiction a secret?
Denzel Washington clarified while talking about sobriety that he never drank while shooting or while working. For all of the projects throughout his filmography. While giving an insight, the actor explained,
I wasn’t drinking when we filmed Flight, I know that, but I’m sure I did as soon as I finished. That was getting toward the end of the drinking, but I knew a lot about waking up and looking around, not knowing what happened.
Talking about how he managed his professional career and his addiction to alcohol, he said, “I would clean up, go back to work — I could do both. However many months of shooting, bang, it’s time to go. Then, boom. Three months of wine, then time to go back to work.” He believes that his ability to act is God-gifted and he doesn’t want to waste it.
Washington shared that over the years of his career of over 50 movies, he has played many characters – sometimes he’s Stephen Biko or sometimes he’s Malcolm X. The actor explained that it is somewhere quite therapeutic and said, “I’m not Malcolm X. I could not stand up to the pressure that he was under. But I’ve been blessed with the ability to interpret what that does. Be it a leader of the Nation of Islam or a falling-down alcoholic.”
What is Denzel Washington’s goal now?
Denzel Washington is going to be 70 next month. Now, he is trying to figure out if he gets another 30 to his lifetime. Admitting how much his alcohol addiction impacted his body, the actor said, “I’ve done a lot of damage to the body. We’ll see. I’ve been clean. Be ten years this December.”
The Equalizer actor shared that as he is stepping into his 70th year, things are opening up for him. It’s getting real but that’s okay. He told the outlet that he’s taking care of his health now and doing the best he can. And not only alcohol, but he is now focusing on his strength. In Gladiator II, he looked quite fit and strong.
Denzel Washington’s sober lifestyle
Washington took help from his Hollywood friends during his sobriety journey. And about two years ago, his close friend Lenny Kravitz came forward and hooked him up with a trainer. Giving a glimpse of his current lifestyle, the actor said,
I started with him February of last year. He makes the meals for me and we’re training, and I’m now 190-something pounds on my way to 185. I was looking at pictures of myself and Pauletta at the Academy Awards for Macbeth, and I’m just looking fat, with this dyed hair, and I said, Those days are over, man. I feel like I’m getting strong. Strong is important.
Well, that was quite a journey. Denzel Washington has surely been flipped upside down. He is now gearing up for his upcoming movie Gladiator II which also stars Pedro Pascal, Paul Mescal, and other prominent actors in important roles. The film is scheduled to release on November 22, 2024 in the theatres.
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