Alec Baldwin Opens Up About Almost 40 Years of Sobriety

Alec Baldwin is reflecting on his sobriety journey and being 39 years drug-free.

The actor, 66, appeared on the May 1 episode of the Our Way with Paul Anka and Skip Bronson podcast to talk about his life and career. “I don’t discuss this a lot,” he admitted when asked about whether he drinks alcohol. “I discuss it every now and then when it makes sense. I’m 39 years sober. I got sober Feb. 23, 1985.”

Baldwin recalled moving from his native New York City to Los Angeles in 1983, telling hosts Anka and Bronson, “I had a white-hot problem every day for two years. I think I snorted a line of cocaine from here to Saturn.”

He and his friends in Hollywood, he continued, “did one on the rings of Saturn, then we came home — we took it back home. I mean, cocaine was like coffee back then. Everybody was doing it all day long.”

Then, he said, “because I stopped doing drugs, my drinking increased, which they tell you is going to happen. And that did happen. I just started drinking.”

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Though he largely keeps his sobriety journey private, Baldwin detailed many such experiences in his 2017 memoir Nevertheless. “I’m glad I got [sober] when I did ’cause not many people get sober when they’re young,” he told Good Morning America anchor George Stephanopoulos at that time. 

In his 20s when he was “overdosing on drugs,” he added, “there was really, really a lot of pain in there.”

As for Anka’s question about drinking these days, Baldwin indicated that following his increased alcohol intake after quitting drugs, he cut that out too. “I don’t miss drugs at all, but I do miss drinking. I like to drink,” he admitted. 

“Because you don’t drink and because you don’t do drugs, what do you do? Do you meditate?” asked Bronson. 

“I do try to meditate,” Baldwin explained, adding that the task is not without its challenges considering the kids he shares with wife Hilaria Baldwin at home in New York. “Meditating with seven children is like trying to play ping pong on the deck of an aircraft carrier. It’s a real pain in the ass, man.”

New episodes of Our Way with Paul Anka and Skip Bronson are released on Wednesdays. 

If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, please contact the SAMHSA helpline at 1-800-662-HELP.