Denzel Washington Gets Candid About Wine Habit And “Shooting Dope”

It goes without saying that years of drug and alcohol use will surely catch up to anybody, and according to Denzel Washington, he’s no exception. Luckily, the award-winning actor and producer never let his vices get too out of hand and has made his health a top priority as he approaches 70. During a recent interview with Esquire Magazine, he opened up about the “damage” he’s done to his body in the past by getting hooked on wine and occasionally “shooting dope.”

“Things are opening up for me now — like being seventy. It’s real. And it’s OK. This is the last chapter — if I get another thirty, what do I want to do? My mother made it to ninety-seven. I’m doing the best I can,” he told the outlet. Washington went on to open up about how his wine habit began, and exactly when he realized it was becoming a problem.

“Wine is very tricky. It’s very slow. It ain’t like, boom, all of a sudden. I never got strung out on heroin. Never got strung out on coke. Never got strung out on hard drugs. I shot dope just like they shot dope, but I never got strung out,” he explained. “And I never got strung out on liquor. I had this ideal idea of wine tastings and all that — which is what it was at first. And that’s a very sub­tle thing. I mean, I drank the best.”

Ultimately, Washington started to think he might be addicted when he got his own wine cellar in his house. Despite this, he says he was never under the influence while working or preparing for a role. “I never drank while I was working or preparing. I would clean up, go back to work — I could do both. However many months of shooting, bang, it’s time to go. Then, boom. Three months of wine, then time to go back to work,” he shared.