Denzel Washington opens up about past struggles with drugs and alcohol: ‘I’ve done a lot of damage’

Denzel Washington has opened up about the “damage” drinking and drugs did to his body and his decade of sobriety as he approaches his 70th birthday.

The Gladiator II star celebrates the milestone next month and told Esquire that although he has 10 years of sobriety behind him his focus is now on the future - and making the most of the time he has left.

“Things are opening up for me now - like being seventy. It’s real. And it’s okay,” he admitted. “This is the last chapter - if I get another thirty, what do I want to do? My mother made it to ninety-seven. I’m doing the best I can.”

Washington reflected on his decision to quit drinking at 60, revealing, “I haven’t had a thimble’s worth since.” He described his journey with alcohol as one that began subtly and deceptively.

“Wine is very tricky. It’s very slow. It ain’t like, boom, all of a sudden,” he said, emphasizing that while he experimented with drugs and alcohol, he never felt dependent on them. “I never got strung out on heroin, coke, or hard drugs. I shot dope just like they shot dope, but I never got strung out. And I never got strung out on liquor.”

Initially, his love for wine appeared harmless, often indulging in it as a luxury.

“I had this ideal idea of wine tastings and all that — which is what it was at first. And that’s a very subtle thing,” he recalled, noting that his family’s addition of a wine cellar only deepened his appreciation for high-end bottles. “

“I learned to drink the best,” Washington said. “I was popping $4,000 bottles — not because I needed them, but because that’s what was left.”

Over time, his habits escalated. Washington recalled calling Gil Turner’s Fine Wines & Spirits on Sunset Boulevard and requesting, “Send me two bottles, the best of this or that.”

When his wife of over 40 years, Pauletta, asked why he kept ordering two bottles, he’d respond, “‘Because if I order more, I’ll drink more.’ So I kept it to two bottles, and I would drink them both over the course of the day.”

Despite his drinking, Washington maintained a separation between his personal habits and his professional life. “I never drank while I was working or preparing. I would clean up, go back to work - I could do both. However many months of shooting, bang, it’s time to go. Then, boom. Three months of wine, then time to go back to work.”

He shared that he wasn’t drinking during the filming of Flight in 2012, where he portrayed an alcoholic airline pilot. However, he admitted, “I’m sure I did as soon as I finished. That was getting toward the end of the drinking, but I knew a lot about waking up and looking around, not knowing what happened.”

Now sober, Washington acknowledges the toll his past drinking took. “I’ve done a lot of damage to the body. We’ll see. I’ve been clean,” he said.