Yahoo Lifestyle Joe Manganiello opens up about his sobriety
Joe Manganillo opened up about his own sobriety at the premiere of The Resurrection of Jake the Snake on March 8. Photo: Getty Images
Joe Manganiello opened up about his alcoholic past at a screening for The Resurrection of Jake the Snakeat the Arclight Cinemas on March 8.
The 38-year-old Magic Mike star, who's engaged to Sofia Vergara, spoke about how the project is close to his heart, revealing that he has been sober for over 12 years.
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"Of course sobriety is something near and dear to me. Twelve-and-a-half years sober. So obviously this is something very close to my heart," he told US Weekly after the screening of the documentary on professional wrestler Jake "the Snake" Roberts, which deals with alcohol addiction.
The True Blood hunk previously opened up about his struggles with sobriety back in 2013.
Sofia and Joe with her nephew, Rafa. Photo: Instagram
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"There was a period of four years where I needed to quit drinking. It was one of those obstacles I needed to get over. Once again, I needed to clear the road in order for these things to happen," he told with HuffPost Live.
"You get to a point where you’re gonna start getting better or you’re gonna kill yourself. I was in so much pain, but I wasn’t willing to end my life,” he also told Splash magazine of the day he decided to get clean.
"I [knew] I’d hurt myself so badly, but realised I’d also hurt people around me. That’s what made me want to get better. But anybody who has ever fought with addiction or knows somebody who’s been in the grips of it, it’s not that easy," he added.
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"At the beginning, it was just about not using. The alcohol was not my problem — the alcohol was my solution to the way that I’d felt my whole life. My problem was me. My problem was reality."
"I had to clean up my mess, not just put my head in the sand and walk away from it. I tracked down everybody I’d done damage to and tried to make up for it. It didn’t happen quickly — if you walk five miles into the woods, you have to walk five miles back out," he said.
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