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Denzel Washington recently opened up about being a heavy drinker and the toll it took on his body over the span of 15 years. The Gladiator II star revealed that he has been sober for 10 years now. He’s also taking other measures to ensure he lives a long life.
Denzel Washington Became a Heavy Drinker
In a cover story for Esquire magazine, Denzel Washington dished out a lot of details about his personal life. The award-winning actor dove into some of the tough stories about his upbringing, including seeing his friend’s brother kill someone and abusing drugs and alcohol at an early age.
Although Denzel Washington was able to control it, he was a heavy drinker when he wasn’t actively working on a film. He shared that, at one point in time, he was drinking two bottles of wine every day.
The Equalizer actor said that it started with a 10,000-bottle wine cellar that he and his wife, Pauletta, have in their house. Slowly, he started working his way through their collection.
“Wine is very tricky. It’s very slow. It ain’t like, boom, all of a sudden,” Washington said during his interview. “And part of it was, we built this big house in 1999 with a 10,000-bottle wine cellar, and I learned to drink the best. So, I’m going to 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.”
Eventually, Washington said that he was calling the local wine and spirits store to order two bottles daily, “the best of this or that.” When his wife asked him why he was only ordering two at a time, he acknowledged that if he ordered more, he’d drink more.
He Never Drank While Working on a Film
While Denzel Washington considered himself a heavy drinker, he said that he never imbibed while he was working on or prepping for a film. However, he’d immediately pick up a drink once the project wrapped.
“I’m sure at first it was easy because I was younger,” Washington stated. “Two months off and let’s go. But drinking was a 15-year pattern. And, truth be told, it didn’t start in ’99. It started earlier.”
That said, Washington made the conscious decision to get sober 10 years ago. Now, he’s about to turn 70 years old next month, and he’s doing everything he can to reverse the damage he’s done to his body.
While Denzel Washington is no longer a heavy drinker, he’s still concerned about the impact his 15-year-long habit has had on his health.
“I’ve done a lot of damage to the body. We’ll see. I’ve been clean … ten years this December,” the actor said. “I stopped at 60, and I haven’t had a thimble’s worth since. Things are opening up for me now — like being 70. It’s real. And it’s OK. This is the last chapter. If I get another 30, what do I want to do? My mother made it to 97.”
The Gladiator II star also said he’s added some workouts into his routine. Apparently, his “good friend” Lenny Kravitz suggested a trainer and he’s been working out since February of last year.
“I feel like I’m getting strong,” he said. “Strong is important.”
Gladiator II debuts in theaters on Friday, November 22.
