Alcoholism and melancholy plagued John Goodman for practically his entire life. He acknowledged that, if he had persuaded himself to do so, “nothing” would stop him from having a drink. He also said he appeared to be having a “walking heart attack”. But he has since defeated his demons and survived to tell the tale.
John Goodman, a renowned performer, turned 70. Prior to starring in films like The Flinstones, Blues Brothers, Raising Arizona, The Big Lebowski, etc., the American star of The Borrowers had been depressed due to some traumatic personal situations.
Throughout his career, Goodman has been frank about his battle with drinking. For more than 30 years, the celebrity battled the sickness. It had a profound impact on his life.
He said that the drinking was “definitely” harming his acting career during an interview in 2012.
“Temperament, Memory, and Depression,” was the response.
He described how “bad” his drinking had gotten.
“I mean, there are a lot of occasions I could have drowned,” Goodman remarked. Not an overdose, but a misadventure, I guess.
The celebrity quit drinking in 2007, but he acknowledged that it was difficult to stay clean every day. He started “having nightmares” about locating some bourbon and downing it at one point.
He would recall: “I’ll go: Hey, I shouldn’t be doing that.
I’ll then say, “Waaah, that’s OK!” You frequently engage in it! You constantly sneak it! I’ll eventually awaken and say, “No, I don’t.” At first, [the voices] worried me. They’re just funny now.
To avoid encountering triggers, Goodman continued, “I want to keep going to locations where there is positive reinforcement. Because if I really wanted to drink, I don’t think anything on God’s green Earth could stop me.
Additionally, he acknowledged that his drinking was influenced by the “continuous worry of unemployment” that comes with being an actor.
“It’s just alcohol. He confessed, “I’m an alcoholic. “I would drink regardless. Finding any justification is part of being an alcoholic. However, in terms of stress, I’ve had a hard life. The business I picked is constantly a nail-biter, and I’ve added to the stress by drinking and taking drugs. There was also a continual possibility of layoffs.
He reflected, “I just denied what I was doing to myself for some reason. Considering how I appear, it’s a miracle that anyone would ever hire me. I appeared to be having a walking heart attack.
He, therefore, devised an alternative strategy for handling it.
Goodman loves acting, and he claims that acting in the theater is an entirely different experience. He compared it to being “shot out of a cannon,”
“You have an adrenaline rush, and once that’s done, you find yourself, at the end of the evening, exhausted,” the Roseanne actress remarked.
He claimed that filming a movie was unique. It required waiting and long days. A movie just drags on, he observed.
The renowned theater performer’s condition also caused him to frequently forget his lines.
I had an issue with it, he declared. After a time of drinking, the lines eventually stopped appearing. It also resembled a snowball. It only reinforced my lack of faith in my ability to even learn lines. Additionally, I was misusing my energy and punishing myself more than anything else. All I need to do is be calm about it, recognize that there will be lines, and practice patience.
Along with this continuing struggle, he was also plagued by a searing depression every day.
“A chemical thing, a brain thing… [a sense of] overall unhappiness with everything,” was how he put it. Nothing appears to be right, and I don’t want to do anything. I need to be doing anything else, but I’m not interested. It’s just crazy.
Goodman, who has been married to Anna Beth Hartzog since 1989, assisted him in becoming sober in 2007.
