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Denzel Washington has been making press rounds to discuss Gladiator II and has already revealed some revelations to fans.
First, it was a taken-out-of-context comment about retirement and only doing work that inspires him after his latest roles are released. Now, he’s reliving his unhealthy lifestyle from over a decade ago.
Washington is on the cover of Esquire‘s winter issue, where he takes an as-told-to approach instead of a typical interview with a journalist. Nearing his 70th birthday, he writes about seven experiences that have changed his life.
Though all are life-changing in their own way, one of the most reflective comes in ACT IV, where he admitted to shooting dope before, but it was alcohol that he had an unhealthy relationship with.
It started with the 2000 Golden Globe Awards, when he won Best Actor in a Motion Picture for The Hurricane. He was expected to repeat at the Oscars that year, but instead, Kevin Spacey won for American Beauty.
A disheartened Washington went home and drank. He says the issue was worsened when he and his wife Pauletta built a sprawling estate soon after with a wine cellar that fit 10,000 bottles, admitting that “Wine is very tricky. It’s very slow. It ain’t like, boom, all of a sudden.”
He recounts spending thousands on bottles but learned to restrict himself and only buy two at a time.
“I learned to drink the best. So I’m gonna drink my ’61s and my ’82s and whatever we had,” he said. “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,’” he added.
Washington explains that his wife knew he’d eventually have to call the liquor store again the next day to buy more and asked him why he didn’t just get more. To which he replied, “Because if I order more, I’ll drink more.”
However, Washington knew how to keep his alcohol use at bay, saying he never drank while filming, but after months on set, he’d return home and fall back into old habits. But that all stopped in 2014 at 60 when he quit drinking and never looked back.
“I’ve done a lot of damage to the body. We’ll see. I’ve been clean. Be 10 years this December. I stopped at 60, and I haven’t had a thimble’s worth since,” he said.
He includes that it helped him lose weight, and he’s even been working out with Lenny Kravitz’s trainer because, at 70, he’s looking forward to his “last chapter.”
See how social media is reacting to Washington’s honesty below.
