This year 2024 is special for Denzel Washington. The Hollywood star, discovered particularly in films Malcolm X, Hurricane Carter or even Equalizerwill in fact celebrate its 70th birthday on December 28. Before the big day, the actor starring in Gladiator 2 by Ridley Scott, agreed to take stock of his life for the magazine Esquire.
Denzel Washington opens up about his wine addiction
In this long interview in which the actor rarely confides on a very intimate subject: his sobriety after suffering from alcoholism for so many years. Denzel Washington explains that he was addicted to wine between 1999 and 2014. “Wine is delicate, it builds slowly. It's not like a sudden boom. In 1999, we built a big house with a 10,000-bottle wine cellar, and I learned to drink what (…) Wine was my thing, and I was drinking $4,000 bottles just because that was what was left. Then I called Gil Turner's Fine Wines. & Spirits on Sunset Boulevard and I asked them to send me two bottles (…) My wife then asked me, “Why are you only ordering two bottles?” 'Order more, I'll drink more.' So I stuck to two bottles and drank them both throughout the day.”he said frankly.
Was Denzel Washington filming under the influence of alcohol in Hollywood?
Alcoholic until 2014, Denzel Washington claims not to “never drank while working or preparing for a role”. “After several months of filming, boom (…) three months of wine, and it was time to get back to work. I'm sure at first it was easy because I was younger. Two months of rest and we were back. But alcohol was a habit that had lasted for fifteen years. And actually, it didn't start in 1999 but earlier.”he confides, specifying that his addiction is linked to one of his friends, Frank. “I've never done heroin. I've never done coke. I have never taken hard drugs. I took drugs like them (Frank and their friends, editor's note) took them, but I never took drugs. And I never took alcohol. I had this ideal idea of wine tastings and everything else – that’s what it was in the beginning. I drank the best… And fifteen years later I ordered two bottles of wine and drank them during the day.”he concludes.
