Sam Worthington has revealed he was once so addicted to alcohol that he had to drink a couple of glasses of champagne before doing simple tasks like getting into a flight.
The “Avatar” star recalled that it was his wife, Lara, who pointed out he was drinking too much. He also admitted to being an “emotional drunk.”
“I couldn’t see it,” the 46-year-old actor told Variety. “I thought it was normal. I didn’t like who I was. Drinking helped me get through the day.”
The actor shared that he used to start drinking in the morning itself but “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,” he noted.
While he was still doing his job, Worthington admitted he wasn’t “doing it very well” as alcohol made him “erratic.”
Worthington, who has been sober for eight years, explained that he started to drink after the release of “Avatar” in 2009. His anxiety would shoot through the roof after getting unwanted attention from fans and the paparazzi. Drinking reportedly helped him to deal with such situations.
“I was an emotional drunk,” he explained. “I got more emotional and erratic the longer I drank. I don’t think I was mean, exactly, but I could be belligerent, petulant.”
The actor recalled the time when his wife gave him an ultimatum “with love,” saying “You can do what you want, but I don’t need to be around this.” Worthington admitted it was his wife who helped him pull back from drinking.
Worthington got married in 2014 and the couple shares two kids – Rocket Zot, 7, and Racer, 6. Worthington’s latest movie, “Avatar: The Way of Water,” hit the theaters Friday. He will reprise Jake Sully’s character in the film.
The actor will also appear in the sequels “Avatar 3,” “Avatar 4” and “Avatar 5,” which are scheduled for 2024, 2026 and 2028, respectively.
Reuters/Yuriko Nakao
