Gary Oldman remembers 'sweating vodka' before going sober 24 years ago

Gary Oldman remembers 'sweating vodka' before going sober 24 years ago
British actor Gary Oldman, who stars in the film "Darkest Hour" about Winston Churchill, poses for a portrait in Beverly Hills, California US, November 9, 2017
PHOTO: Reuters

The 62-year-old actor has candidly opened up on the side effects of addiction, and admitted he "wouldn't wish it on [his] worst enemy".

Speaking to the Los Angeles Times newspaper, he said: "I used to sweat vodka. It becomes such a part of you. My tongue would be black in the morning. I blamed it on the shampoo.

"I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy, to be in the grip of it. It's hell. And that self-effacing humour? That's just there to mask the inadequacy." 

Gary has revealed how he used his own experience as a recovering alcoholic for his role of screenwriter Herman Mankiewicz in new Netflix movie Mank.

He added: "Herman, with that self-effacing humour, he was at lunch, drinking with a friend, who said, 'Why don't you go home sober for once?'

"And he answered, 'What? And have [his wife] Sara throw me out as an impostor?' I did the same thing.

"I would sit down and tell the waiter, 'I'll have a large vodka tonic. And can you bring it now because I'm an alcoholic. I need it quicker.' "

And Gary noted he struggled to quit booze initially because he "romanticised" his addiction and associated it with inspirational artists like Ernest Hemingway. 

He explained: "People romanticise it, and even I romanticised it. All my heroes were drinkers or opium addicts, and you get all misty-eyed about these poets and playwrights and actors who were big drinkers."

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Meanwhile, Gary typically feels he can "hide" his insecurity with make-up and prosthetics and feels much more "comfortable" that way, so playing screenwriter Mankiewicz without any transformation, he initially felt vulnerable before eventually finding the job "liberating". 

He previously said: "I like a disguise because of my own insecurity. When I can hide, it makes me feel more comfortable. I don't know, maybe it comes back to not feeling worthy.

"I'm coming up to 24 years of sobriety in March, but I remember all the things that made me want to drink, you know?

"So when David [Finscher, director] said, 'I want you as naked as you've ever been, I do not want a veil between you and the audience', it played into my insecurities. He said, 'Trust me'. So you go, 'OK'. And really, it was the best call. Oddly enough, after a couple of days, it was rather liberating."
 

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