George Clooney has opened up about experimenting with drugs during his early days as a Hollywood actor in the 1980s.
The 64-year-old Oscar winner told Esquire on Monday that he “did blow and stuff” when he was starting out in his film career, but emphasized that it was “never a big issue” for him.
“Eighty-two, I tried — I did blow and stuff,” Clooney said. “I used to joke about doing too many drugs, but the truth is, it was never a big issue for me at all.”
The Oscar winner told Esquire that he “did blow and stuff” in the 1980s during the early days of his career.
“And look, there was an episode of Taxi where they’re all doing blow. At the time, it was like, ‘No, this is not like heroin. It’s not addictive.’ But then it was like, ‘Oh, well, it’s actually pretty f–king bad,’” he said.
“Plus, it was all cut with mannitol—the baby laxative. Everybody would do a line and then, well, you know,” Clooney added with a laugh.
He also admitted that marijuana was “not my drug,” recalling a particular experience over a decade ago. The Gravity actor said he once ate weed brownies with friends while watching The Wizard of Oz set to Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon.
Clooney graces the cover of Esquire’s November issue.
“We were f–ked,” he admitted. “I literally— I think all of us—there were like 20 of us in the screening room. The movie ended, and we just sat there without speaking for hours. Hours! Like the sun was coming up. It’s just not my drug.”
The father of two also opened up about his relationship with alcohol, admitting he often walked a fine line.
“I’ve had periods where, I wouldn’t say it was a problem—I never woke up and drank or anything—but I’d have runs where I’d get pretty toasty every night,” he said.
The Good Night, and Good Luck star recently gave up alcohol during his three-month Broadway run, though he occasionally allowed himself a glass of wine on Sundays. His booze-free streak ended after the Tony Awards in June.
Clooney told the outlet that he often walked a fine line when it came to alcohol.
“I got blasted,” he recalled. “Barely walking drunk, you know?”
That night, he said, he “came home with [wife] Amal, and I was just laughing. We’re lying in bed, and I go, ‘Well, I caught up for all my abstinence in one night.’ I was sick all day the next day; it was hysterical. I was like high school drunk. Like dumbass drunk,” he quipped.
