Actor Simon Pegg has revealed he spent years hiding an alcohol addiction before it reached a point where his wife had enough and he ended up in rehab where he got the help he so desperately needed.
The film star, who has battled depression since the age of 18 and coped with the condition by drinking, thinks his alcoholism would have killed him if he hadn’t gone to rehab.
The Sean of the Dead star, now in a healthy state as he promotes the latest installment of the franchise Mission: Impossible — Fallout, remembers all too clearly just a few years ago, he was living a much different reality.
Oo-er!
After playing field agent Benji Dunn in the third blockbuster opposite Tom Cruise, Pegg opened up about his battle with depression and alcoholism in a new interview with the UK’s Guardian.
“When I watch that film back, I can see where I was then, which was fairly lost, and unhappy, and an alcoholic,” he told the publication.
“It was awful, terrible,” he added. “It owned me.”
He describes the years that followed as “the crisis years” but it wasn’t until later that he sought help.
Pegg said his “crisis years” were marked by a dependence on alcohol to numb feelings of sadness.
“I would feel like – I’m in a film with Tom Cruise, I’ve got the part of Scotty in “Star Trek.” This should be making me feel happy,” he said. “But it wasn’t.”
Pegg said rehab and seeking help from Alcoholics Anonymous helped him get on the path toward health.
Pegg went into recovery as shooting started on 2011’s Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol.
“I don’t think I would be here now if I hadn’t had help,” he said.
With so much negativity swirling around the world these days, the way to survive is to stand up and face your demons… Brave man Simon, well done… I commend you!
Mission: Impossible – Fallout opens in theaters this week.
