For nearly his entire life, John Goodman struggled with alcoholism and depression. He admitted that “nothing” would stop him from having a drink if he wanted. He also said he appeared to have a “walking heart attack.” He has, however, battled his demons and lived to tell the story.
John Goodman, a well-known performer, celebrated his 70th birthday. Before starring in films like The Flinstones, Blues Brothers, Raising Arizona, and The Big Lebowski. The American star of The Borrowers had been depressed due to traumatic personal situations.
Goodman has been open about his drinking problem throughout his career. The celebrity fought the illness for over 30 years. It had a significant impact on his life.
During an interview in 2012, he stated that his drinking was “absolutely” affecting his acting career.
“Temperament, Memory, and Depression.”
He talked about how “bad” his drinking had gotten.
“I mean, there were many times when I could have drowned,” Goodman said. “I assume it wasn’t an overdose but a misadventure.”
The celebrity quit drinking in 2007 but admitted that staying sober every day was challenging. He started “having nightmares” about finding 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 do that all the time! You’re always sneaking 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 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 my appearance, it’s a miracle that anyone would hire me. I appeared to be having a walking heart attack.”
He, therefore, devised an alternative strategy for handling it.
Goodman loves acting, claiming 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 exhausted at the end of the evening,” the Roseanne actor 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 forget his lines frequently.
“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 learn lines. Additionally, I was misusing my energy and punishing myself more than anything else. All I need to do is be calm, recognize that there will be lines, and practice patience.”
Along with this continuing struggle, he was also plagued by a searing depression daily.
“A chemical thing, a brain thing… [a sense of] overall unhappiness with everything,” was how he put it. “Nothing seems 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.