Alec Baldwin Reflects on 39 Years of Sobriety, Admits He Misses Drinking
Alec Baldwin has opened up about being nearly 40 years sober.
“I don’t discuss this a lot,” Baldwin, 66, said on the Wednesday, May 1, episode of the “Our Way with Paul Anka and Skip Bronson” podcast. “I discuss it every now and then when it makes sense. I’m 39 years sober. I got sober February 23, 1985.”
Baldwin explained that his struggles with substance abuse began when he relocated from New York City to Los Angeles in 1983.
“I had a white-hot problem every day for two years. I think I snorted a line of cocaine from here to Saturn — did one on the rings of Saturn, then we came home,” the 30 Rock alum recalled. “I mean, cocaine was like coffee back then. Everybody was doing it all day long.”
Once Baldwin quit using drugs, he began depending on alcohol to cope with the withdrawal.
“I stopped doing drugs [and] my drinking increased, which they tell you is going to happen,” he said. “And that did happen. I just started drinking.”
Baldwin added, “I don’t miss drugs at all, but I do miss drinking. I like to drink.”
Despite enjoying taking a drink, Baldwin asserts that he has not relapsed, which he credits to living in Manhattan.
“New York relaxes me. I walk around, and I see aspects of it that I’ve never seen before,” Baldwin, who moved back to the Big Apple in 2014, added. “I [also try] to meditate. Meditating with seven children [however] is like trying to play ping pong on the deck of an aircraft carrier –– it’s a real pain in the ass.”
Alec shares daughter Ireland, 28, with ex-wife Kim Basinger and seven younger children with wife Hilaria Baldwin. The actor and Hilaria, 40, share daughters Carmen, 10, Lucia, 3, and Ilaria, 2, as well as sons Rafael, 8, Leonardo, 7, Romeo, 5 and Eduardo, 3.
Alec Baldwin's Biggest Scandals and Controversies Through the Years
Alec has previously been candid about his sobriety. During a March 2017 Good Morning America interview, Alec credited his decision to get clean to experiencing an overdose.
“I think I was one of the people who was lucky that it stuck, and therefore if I didn’t get it then, I think I would’ve got it eventually,” he said on a March 2017 episode of GMA “I know that at that time, what I describe — overdosing on drugs — which I’ve kept very private for years and years. But I’m glad I got it when I did ’cause not many people get sober when they’re young.”
He concluded at the time, “There was really, really a lot of pain in there. A lot of pain.”
If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, contact the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).
