The Friends star shared that he first started struggling with alcohol when he was 24 and had just gotten cast in the iconic show: “I could handle it, kind of. But by the time I was 34, I was really entrenched in a lot of trouble,” he said. “But there were years that I was sober during that time. Season 9 was the year that I was sober the whole way through. And guess which season I got nominated for Best Actor? I was like, ‘That should tell me something.’” As for his goal in writing this memoir, Perry said: “I had to wait until I was pretty safely sober — and away from the active disease of alcoholism and addiction — to write it all down. And the main thing was, I was pretty certain that it would help people.” Following an intervention from his team and then-girlfriend, Felton went to rehab three times: He left the first, got kicked out the second, and decided to return a third time on his own accord. “It was one of the hardest decisions I ever had to make,” he said about his third stay, but ultimately hopes his story encourages others struggling to seek treatment. In an interview with Vanity Fair, Downey Jr. said this about addiction: “Job one is get out of that cave. A lot of people do get out but don’t change. So the thing is to get out and recognize the significance of that aggressive denial of your fate, come through the crucible forged into a stronger metal." In 2020, Elton John shared his 30th sober anniversary with a tweet of a cake and an AA coin: “If I hadn’t finally taken the big step of asking for help 30 years ago, I’d be dead. Thank you from the bottom of my heart to all the people who have inspired and supported me along the way,” he wrote. The actor and talk show host has since gone on to have a fruitful career, make amends with her mother, and maintain sobriety. She also quit alcohol in 2021. When she talked to The Guardian about her past and whether or not she’ll hide it from her children, Barrymore said: “I’m not going to pretend I am not who I am. I’m going to show them how it got me to where I am now.” In an interview with The Guardian, Harington went on to compare his addiction to the high of acting: “This is a very addictive job. In a week’s time, I’m going to go out, stand on stage and get applause and it’s going to be a huge rush and a high,” he says. “The trouble is, I never really wanted to come down from that high. Now, I’ve learned how I do that and I’m much happier for it.” With three years of sobriety under his belt, Harington encourages others to get help if they need it, saying: “I’m well on my path to recovery, and all I can say to anyone thinking about it is it’s a wonderful way of living your life. It saved me, for sure.” The actor has been sober since 2010. “Ultimately, it was my own decision,” he said. “Like I woke up one morning after a night going like, ‘This is probably not good.’”
“I had a very good theatre reputation,” Jackson told The Guardian. “Granted, I was a fucking drug addict and I was out of my mind a lot of the time, but I had a good reputation. Showed up on time, knew my lines, hit my marks.” He noted how much his life improved after getting sober: “I was doing things the right way, it was just that one thing that was in the way — my addiction. And once that was out of the way, it was — boom! The door blew wide open.” “I think what is very scary about cocaine is that you start to feel too confident and you start to feel indispensable, although none of us are indispensable,” she said. “You become short-tempered…Your little charm goes. The little glow in your face goes.” Thankfully, Campbell said she found help in Alcoholics Anonymous as she also struggled with her drinking. “I became a connoisseur of wine in a way that only an alcoholic can,” she shared of her relapse. Apparently, she was drinking while starring in Paramount+’s The Good Fight, in which she appeared in from 2017 to 2021. She shared: “I went back into denial, after all those years of sobriety and self-knowledge. I fooled myself — I woke up one day and went: ‘I’m back.’” Lynch got sober again six months after her relapse. “[It was] like the sober fairy said, ‘OK, I’m giving you one more chance,’” she said. “And it was over. Five o’clock would come and I didn’t notice it.” The singer opened up about their decision on The Tonight Show: “After going through even more stuff last year — I came out of treatment again — and I realized I really want to do this for myself, and I want to make the best album possible,” they said. “Something that really represents who I am, and I think the best way to do that — and the easiest way to do that, and the most authentic — is to do it clean and sober.” “It took me a long time to come to terms with the fact that I had a problem with drinking because I was one of those drinkers where [it was all or nothing],” she said. “If I enjoy my drinking, I can’t control it and if I control my drinking, I don’t enjoy it. That was a real wake-up call for me.” Welch got sober in 2012, saying: “I was like, ‘This has to be contained. This can’t leak out into the public sphere.’” He then thanked his wife and “friends who had already made the journey” for helping him seek help. He also remarked on how his life has improved since getting sober, writing: “The psychological and physical transformation has been amazing. The sky is more blue, my heart is no longer closed, and I enjoy making people laugh until they fall down more than ever before. Thank you, Melissa, for being by my side. I love you. ❤️”
