Denzel Washington Reflects On Nearly A Decade Of Sobriety And Turning 70
Denzel Washington, the legendary actor known for his powerful performances, is nearing a milestone: nearly a decade of sobriety. As he prepares to celebrate his 70th birthday next month, he opens up about his journey with alcohol in the Winter issue of Esquire, where he also graces the cover.
According to him, it all started with wine.
“Wine is very tricky. It’s very slow. It ain’t like, boom, all of a sudden,” he shared, adding, “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.”
Though his relationship with alcohol never spiraled into hard drugs or extreme addiction, Denzel admits that wine became his weakness. In his words: “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.”
At one point, the Gladiator II star had a routine with a local wine shop in Los Angeles. “…I’d call Gil Turner’s Fine Wines & Spirits on Sunset Boulevard and say, ‘Send me two bottles, the best of this or that.’”
At the time, the actor’s wife, Pauletta would ask why he was ordering two bottles and he would say, “Because if I order more, I’ll drink more.”
Despite his drinking habits, Denzel made sure alcohol never interfered with his work. “I never drank while I was working or preparing. 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 recalls filming Flight in 2012, a movie in which he portrayed an alcoholic airline pilot, saying that he wasn’t drinking during filming. However, he admitted that he is “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,” he added.
Now, Denzel has been completely sober since he turned 60. “I haven’t had a thimble’s worth since,” he says with pride. Reflecting on the toll alcohol took on his body, he admits, “I’ve done a lot of damage. We’ll see. I’ve been clean.”
“Things are opening up for me now — like being seventy. It’s real. And it’s okay. This is the last chapter – if I get another thirty, what do I want to do? My mother made it to ninety-seven. I’m doing the best I can,” he added.
