Charlie Sheen’s mornings look different these days. The actor told People in a new interview that next month marks six years since he quit drinking alcohol.
In 2017 and prior, he said, “I loved drinking in the morning. Loved some scotch in the coffee.” Now? “I wake up early, around 4:30 or 5 a.m., get an early jump on the news, work out, answer emails.”
Sheen disclosed in 2015 that he has HIV, which he was diagnosed with in 2011. He publicly struggled with addiction to various substances on and off for decades, and was dismissed from his long run on the sitcom Two and a Half Men as a result of his behavior. In a memorable instance amid a drug relapse, he claimed to be fueled by “tiger blood” and coined his #winning hashtag. In a 2021 interview, a decade after the fact, he told Yahoo! Entertainment he regretted the period immensely.
“People have [said to] me, ‘Hey, man, that was so cool, that was so fun to watch. That was so cool to be a part of and support and all that energy and, you know, we stuck it to the man,’” he said. “My thought behind that is, ‘Oh, yeah, great. I’m so glad that I traded early retirement for a fucking hashtag.’”
He said when he decided to stop drinking, he’d already quit using drugs, but it was one of those bygone booze-infused mornings that prompted Sheen to quit drinking, cold-turkey, six years ago.
“One morning I’d forgotten my daughter had an appointment I’d promised to drive her to, and I’d already had a couple of pops that day,” he said. (He shares daughters Sami, 19, and Lola, 18, with ex-wife Denise Richards.) “So had to call my friend Tony to take us. We got her there on time, but it broke my heart because she was in the backseat and I could just tell she was thinking, ‘Why isn’t dad driving?’ So I got home and sat with that for the rest of the day. And the next morning I just stopped.”
What started as one month “just to see,” in Sheen’s words, has now grown to over a half-decade of healthier habits and abstaining from alcohol.
“I’m like, all right, I’m going to go another month. And then it got traction. I had momentum,” he said. “There was just instant evidence that this was the side I needed to be on. I couldn’t be in denial about it anymore.”
Now, after his early morning start, he helps his 14-year-old twin sons Max and Bob get ready for their own day. “It’s all about single dad stuff,” he said. (The twins’ mother is Sheen’s ex-wife Brooke Mueller.)
After that broken promise to his daughter prompted a lifestyle overhaul, Sheen said he’s happy with who he is now.
“I’m proud of the choices that I’ve made and the changes I’ve made to live a life today that will never look like that mess,” he said of his past. “That was some alien version of myself.”
Representatives for Charlie Sheen did not immediately return requests for comment.
Kase Wickman
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