This article discusses alcohol and drug addiction.
Charlie Sheen has opened up about his past experience with alcohol and drug addiction, revealing he’s nearly six years sober.
Last year, Charlie made his return to acting after his addiction led to him taking a yearslong break from Hollywood. He appeared in the drama-comedy series Ramble On alongside Kevin Connolly and Kevin Dillion.
For those who don’t know, Charlie was infamously fired from the CBS sitcom Two and a Half Men — in which he played the leading character for the first eight seasons — back in March 2011, after he began displaying erratic behavior.
At the time, Charlie had been dealing with drug and alcohol addiction for years. He’d previously entered rehab after experiencing a near-fatal overdose in 1998, and he’d faced allegations of physical and verbal abuse from multiple women, including his now-ex-wife Denise Richards, who claimed he threatened to kill her and their daughters, Sami and Lola.
Charlie was fired from Two and a Half Men after making a series of insulting remarks about its creator, Chuck Lorre, whom he called a “clown” and a “turd” during a live radio interview.
The actor also denied that he had any addiction to drugs or alcohol, and separately criticized Alcoholics Anonymous during an interview with USA Today, saying that it was for “people that aren't special.”
Charlie’s firing from Two and a Half Men led to him taking a yearslong hiatus from Hollywood, where he eventually privately decided to get sober.
And now that the actor is returning to screens, starring in none other than Chuck Lorre’s new Max series, Bookie, Charlie is opening up about his decision to get sober.
Sitting down with People this week, Charlie — who is also dad to sons Max and Bob with his ex-wife Brooke Mueller, and has a daughter named Cassandra with his ex-girlfriend Paula Profit — revealed that his lifestyle now is all about “single dad stuff.”
“Next month I'll be six years sober,” he shared. “I have a very consistent lifestyle now. It's all about single dad stuff, and raising my 14-year-old twin boys, Max and Bob.” Charlie’s other kids are all aged 18 and over.
Charlie went on, "Now I wake up early, around 4:30 or 5 a.m., get an early jump on the news, work out, answer emails. Then I get the kids up and help them with their morning routine — if you can call it a routine.”
Reflecting on his past misuse of alcohol, Charlie recalled drinking scotch in his morning coffee when he was experiencing addiction. “I loved drinking in the morning,” he recalled. “Loved some scotch in the coffee.”
However, Charlie went on to reveal that his past habit of drinking in the mornings actually ended up prompting him to quit drinking altogether after a heartbreaking encounter with his young daughter.
“One morning, I’d forgotten my daughter had an appointment I’d promised to drive her to, and I’d already had a couple of pops that day,” he said.
“So I had to call my friend Tony to take us. We got her there on time, but it broke my heart because she was in the backseat and I could just tell she was thinking, ‘Why isn't Dad driving?’” he went on.
“So I got home and sat with that for the rest of the day. And the next morning I just stopped,” he added, noting that he’d already stopped doing drugs at this point, too.
Elsewhere during his chat with People, Charlie reflected on the way his work reputation shifted as a result of his turbulent behavior.
“For the longest time, I had the best work reputation. I was the first to arrive, last to leave, when in doubt, I would over prepare. I would just check every box. And then that went away,” he said.
Noting that he's "really excited" about "being that guy again," Charlie added that he's super "proud" of himself for getting sober and turning his life around.
“I’m proud of the choices that I've made and the changes I’ve made to live a life today that will never look like that mess,” he said as he looked back on his past. “That was some alien version of myself.”
If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, you can call SAMHSA’s National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357) and find more resources here.