Denzel Washington is looking back on his decision to leave alcohol behind at age 60 almost a decade into his sobriety journey. The Gladiator II star, 69, opened up about his alcohol and drug use over the years in the Winter edition of Esquire, published Tuesday, Nov. 19.
Washington, who hasn’t had “a thimble’s worth” of alcohol in nearly a decade, revealed that despite his various experiences with substances over the years, it was wine that was “very tricky” for him.
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“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,” he told the outlet. “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.”
When his family added a wine cellar to their house, the Oscar winner said he “learned to drink the best,” which escalated over the years. “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,’” he recalled. Asked by his wife Pauletta why he kept ordering two bottles, Washington would answer, “‘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 actor “never drank” while working or preparing for a role, saying he would “clean up” for a part, “Then, boom. Three months of wine, then time to go back to work.” Even for his role as an alcoholic pilot in the 2012 film Flight, Washington said he abstained from alcohol, “I’m sure I did [drink] as soon as I finished.” He continued, “That was getting toward the end of the drinking, but I knew a lot about waking up and looking around, not knowing what happened.”
As he closes in on 70, Washington admitted, “I’ve done a lot of damage to the body. We’ll see. I’ve been clean.” He reflected, “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. I’m doing the best I can.”
