John Goodman struggled with ᴀʟᴄᴏʜᴏʟɪsᴍ and ᴅᴇᴘʀᴇssɪᴏɴ for most of his life.
He admitted that if he had convinced himself to do so, “nothing” would prevent him from having a drink. He also said he was having a “walking heart att:ack”. But he has since overcome his demons and lived to tell the tale.
John Goodman, a well-known performer, turned 70. Before appearing in films such as The Flinstones, Blues Brothers, Raising Arizona, The Big Lebowski, and others, the American star of The Borrowers suffered from ᴅᴇᴘʀᴇssɪᴏɴ as a result of severe personal experiences.
Throughout his career, Goodman has been open about his drinking problem. For over 30 years, the celebrity fought the i.l.l.ness. It had a huge effect on his life.
During an interview in 2012, he said that his drinking was “definitely” da:maging his acting career.
“I mean, there are a lot of occasions I could have ᴅʀᴏᴡɴᴇᴅ,” Goodman remarked. Not an overdose, but a misadventure, I guess.
The celebrity stopped drinking in 2007, although he admitted it was challenging to stay sober every day. He began “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 frequently engage in it! You constantly sneak 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 really wanted to drink, I don’t think anything on God’s green Earth could stop me.”
He also admitted that his drinking was driven 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 dr:ugs. There was also a continual possibility of layoffs.”
He reflected, “I just denied what I was doing to myself for some reason. Considering how I appear, it’s a miracle that anyone would ever hire me. I appeared to be having a walking heart att:ack.”
As a result, he devised an alternative plan for dealing with the situation.
Goodman enjoys acting and thinks that performing in the theater is a whole other experience. He equated it to being “shot out of a cannon,”
“You have an adrenaline rush, and once that’s done, you find yourself, at the end of the evening, exhausted,” the Roseanne actress remarked.
He insisted that filming a movie was unique. It requires patience and long days. He noted that a movie just drags on.
The famed stage actor’s condition also caused him to frequently forget his lines.
“I had an issue with it”, he said. After a while of drinking, the lines stopped appearing. It also looked like a snowball. It simply confirmed my doubts about my ability to learn lines. In addition, I was wasting my energy and punishing myself more than anything. All I need to do is remain cool, acknowledge that there will be lines, and practice patience.
Along with this continuing struggle, he was also plagued by a searing depression every day.
“A chemical thing, a brain thing… [a sense of] overall unhappiness with everything,” was how he put it. Nothing appears to be 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.
