Gary Oldman is getting candid about his sobriety.<\/p>\n
The \u201cSlow Horses\u201d star<\/a> opened up about his battle with alcoholism and getting sober 28 years ago during an interview with The Hollywood Reporter<\/a> published Monday, Aug. 18.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m in a very good place at the moment, and a lot of that is to do with sobriety,\u201d Oldman, 67, began. \u201cIt\u2019s been 28 years. There was a point when I didn\u2019t think I could\u2019ve gone 28 seconds without a drink.\u201d<\/p>\n Gary Oldman at the National Theatre in London, England, on July 18, 2024. Dave Benett\/Getty Images<\/p>\n Gary Oldman at the Ham Yard Hotel in London, England, on February 7, 2025. Dave Benett\/Getty Images for Apple<\/p>\n Although the \u201cHarry Potter\u201d actor did not pass the buck regarding his fight with addiction, he did acknowledge that many of his \u201cheroes\u201d were \u201call sorts of drunks and drug addicts,\u201d which played a part in his own decision to start drinking.<\/p>\n \u201cThey were all tortured poets and artists,\u201d Oldman shared. \u201cYou look up to them and you romanticize and want to emulate them.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a social norm, and at some point, it got out of control,\u201d he continued. \u201cAnd that\u2019s nothing to do with anyone other than me. But you do glamorize it, that sort of crazy behavior.\u201d<\/p>\n Gary Oldman at the Meryl Streep Center for Performing Artists in Los Angeles, California, on June 06, 2025. Getty Images for SAG-AFTRA Foundation<\/p>\n Gary Oldman at the TV Academy\u2019s Televerse Festival in Los Angeles, California, on August 14, 2025. Getty Images<\/p>\n One hero in particular was Richard Burton, who allegedly got drunk every night<\/a> before he was set to go on stage to perform Shakespeare.<\/p>\n \u201cYou read about\u00a0Richard Burton, who I think did 136 performances of\u00a0Hamlet, eight shows a week on Broadway,\u201d Oldman said. \u201cHe\u2019d drink a whole bottle of vodka and then play the whole part completely drunk.\u201d<\/p>\n However, the \u201cDark Knight\u201d actor eventually realized that his life was better without alcohol, and he gave it up for good in 1997.<\/p>\n Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter and Gary Oldman as Sirius Black in 2007\u2019s \u201cHarry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.\u201d Murray Close<\/p>\n Gary Oldman as Lt. James Gordon in 2008\u2019s \u201cThe Dark Knight.\u201d Stephen Vaughan\/Warner Bros.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s just an excuse, really, and you\u2019re just kidding yourself,\u201d he explained. \u201cMy own life, my personal life, is immeasurably better from just not living in a fog. But I think the work is good, too.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cGoing at the rate I was going, I wouldn\u2019t be sitting here with you by now,\u201d Oldman added. \u201cI\u2019d either be dead or institutionalized.\u201d<\/p>\n This wouldn\u2019t be the first time that the Academy Award winner opened up about his battle with alcoholism.<\/p>\n Gary Oldman as Jackson Lamb in the AppleTV+ series \u201cSlow Horses.\u201d Jack English<\/p>\n Gary Oldman as Jackson Lamb in \u201cSlow Horses.\u201d AP<\/p>\n Back in 2021, after starring as alcoholic screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz in the 2020 biopic\u00a0\u201cMank,\u201d Oldman told the Los Angeles Times<\/a> how his drinking was once so bad that he \u201cused to sweat vodka.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt becomes such a part of you,\u201d he shared at the time. \u201cMy tongue would be black in the morning. I blamed it on the shampoo.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI wouldn\u2019t wish it on my worst enemy to be in the grip of it,\u201d Oldman added. \u201cIt\u2019s hell. And that self-effacing humor? That\u2019s just there to mask the inadequacy.\u201d<\/p>\n Gary Oldman as Herman Mankiewicz in 2020\u2019s \u201cMank.\u201d AP<\/p>\n