Sam Worthington has been sober for eight years now, and he is candidly speaking about his struggles with alcohol addiction.
The 46-year-old actor broke out in a huge way after he landed the leading role of Jake Sully in 2009’s Avatar. But he is now opening up about how his experience with fame became overwhelming for him.
Sam shared that his skyrocket to fame influenced an unhealthy relationship with alcohol stating in a recent interview with Variety:
“Drinking helped me get through the day. Nine out of 10 people couldn’t tell.
They could probably smell it on me, but when they looked at me, they couldn’t tell. I was still doing my job – I just don’t think I was doing it very well.”
He went on to credit Australian culture for changing his perception of alcohol:
“We don’t necessarily talk about AA and things like that. You don’t recognize it’s an illness, and you don’t understand that some people are just wired differently.”
Sam said he is “an emotional drunk,” and added:
“I got more emotional and erratic the longer I drank. I don’t think I was mean, exactly, but I could be belligerent, petulant.”
Sam revealed that his wife Lara Worthington was the key factor in helping him realize he had to stop drinking. He recalled her saying:
“You can do what you want, but I don’t need to be around this.”
