John Goodman struggled with alcoholism and depression for almost his whole life. He admitted that “nothing” would stop him from drinking a drink if he had convinced himself to do so. Additionally, he claimed that he seemed to be undergoing a “walking heart attack”. But he overcame his issues afterward and lived to tell the tale.
A well-known performer named John Goodman turned 70. The American star of The Borrowers had previously struggled with depression as a result of some upsetting personal events before appearing in movies like The Flinstones, Blues Brothers, Raising Arizona, The Big Lebowski, etc.
Goodman has been open about his struggles with alcohol throughout his career. The famous person struggled with the illness for more than 30 years. His life was significantly impacted by it. In a 2012 interview, he declared that drinking was “absolutely” hurting his acting career.
The reply was “Temperament, Memory, and Depression”.
How “bad” his drinking had grown was what he described.
There were a lot of times when Goodman could have drowned, he said. Hardly an overdose, I suppose, more of a mishap.
The famous person gave up drinking in 2007, but he recognized that it was challenging to remain abstinent every day. At one point, he began “having dreams” about finding some bourbon and consuming it.
He remembered thinking, “Hey, I shouldn’t be doing that.
Then I’ll say, “Well, that’s fine!” You do that all the time! You always steal it! When I finally open my eyes, I’ll reply, “No, I don’t.” [The voices] at first alarmed me. Now they’re just amusing.
Goodman said, “I want to keep going to places where there is positive reinforcement to avoid coming across triggers. Because I don’t think anything on God’s green Earth could stop me from drinking if I really wanted to.
He also admitted that the “constant dread of unemployment” that comes with being an actor affected his drinking.
It is only alcohol. He acknowledged that he was an alcoholic. I’d still have a drink. Being an alcoholic includes trying to find any justification. Nonetheless, I’ve had a difficult existence in terms of stress. I chose a business that is always tense, and I’ve increased the tension by abusing alcohol and other substances. Also, there was always a chance of layoffs.
I just denied what I was doing to myself for some reason, he thought. It’s a miracle that anyone has ever hired me given how I appear. I looked like I was having a heart attack while walking.
As a result, he came up with a different plan of action.
Acting in the theater, according to Goodman, is a very other experience. That was like being “blasted out of a cannon,” he said.
The Roseanne actress said, “You get an adrenaline rush, and once that’s done, you find yourself, at the end of the evening, fatigued.
He insisted that making a movie was distinctive. Many days of waiting were necessary. He noted that movies tend to drag on.
The famous theater actor’s ailment also regularly led him to forget his lines.
I didn’t like it, he exclaimed. The lines gradually ceased showing after some drinking. It was also similar to a snowball. My lack of confidence in my capacity to even learn lines was only strengthened by it. More than anything else, I was wasting my energies and harming myself. All I have to do is keep my cool, accept that there will be lines, and learn to be patient.
In addition to this ongoing struggle, he was also daily troubled by a crushing depression.
“A chemical thing, a brain thing… [a sensation of] overall discontent with everything,” was how he expressed it. I don’t want to do anything because nothing seems to be in the right. I should be doing something else, but I don’t want to. It’s just absurd.
In 2007, Goodman, who has been wed to Anna Beth Hartzog since 1989, helped him start a clean lifestyle.