This post was originally published on May 5, 2014.
Nearly anyone can name a handful (or six) of famous folks who’ve been touched by addiction. Some of them are, well, pretty vocal about it–getting in legal scuffles or other very public, heated dramas due to their demons (think LiLo, Zac Efron, Robert Downey Jr., Charlie Sheen, et al). But what about the stars who tend to wear their sobriety a bit closer to the vest? Here are a few quietly allegedly clean celebs who just might surprise you.
1) Ben Affleck
Who knew that good ol’ Affeck, the more dapper half of maligned former trainwreck couple “Bennifer,” was sober? “Simple as this: I quit drinking,” Affleck explained in an interview with The Mirror. He did it at least partially for his family, impressively noting,”When you are in your 20s and you’re not married with kids, you’re having fun. But when you’re in your 30s and you’re not married and don’t have kids, you begin to develop a Peter Pan complex.”
2) Eva Mendes
Eva Mendes—solid actor and cruel, cruel heartcrusher of straight women everywhere since famously taking up with Ryan Gosling—has supposedly been sober since hitting rehab in 2008 (reportedly at the same time as fellow actress Kirsten Dunst). But it’s not something Mendes has chosen to discuss widely—and it’s not something she takes lightly. She got admirably pissed during a 2008 interview with a reporter who joked about rehab, telling him, “People have died, and I’ve lost friends too—even recently. So I can be a little sensitive on the subject…I’m proud of people who have the determination and the fearlessness to actually go and face their demons…This is a life or death situation.”
3) Tim McGraw
Faith Hill’s country-star husband was having issues before he decided to give up his beloved whiskey, circa 2011. “I wouldn’t just have a drink. If I was going to drink, I’d have some drinks. People were worried about me. It was to the point where I felt it was negatively affecting my relationships and getting in the way of things I wanted to accomplish in life,” he told Today.com. McGraw reportedly began replacing drinking with working out, which actually, well, worked out for him (ha ha). Hey, whatever it takes, right?
4) Jada Pinkett Smith
There are lots of reasons to admire the smart, fiery actress who stole the heart of equally smart, fiery longtime love Will Smith. But who knew that sobriety was one of those reasons? “I found myself drinking two bottles of wine on the couch and I said, ‘Jada, I think we’ve got a problem here,'” she recalls (via Contact Music). “I had problems with alcohol and I really had to get in contact with the pain, whatever that is, and then I had to get some other tools in how to deal with the pain. From that day on I went cold turkey; I haven’t had a drink in eight years.” Good work!
5) Tobey Maguire
Tobey Maguire has supposedly been sober since he was 19, but not a whole lot of people were aware of that…at least not until a Playboy journalist revealed off-the-record details about Maguire’s attendance at AA meetings. It was reported that Maguire was (understandably) upset about his anonymity being blown, which makes sense. In any case, Maguire is an avowed AA fan, saying that Alcoholics Anonymous “totally changed my life….AA is no-frills spirituality. There are no hokey traditions. It’s so simple…You do what they ask you to do and (stuff) happens. Your life gets better. Your life changes.”
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