Alec Baldwin Opens up About Sobriety After Nearly 40 Years

Alec Baldwin is looking back on his drug and alcohol use after 39 years of sobriety. The 66-year-old actor spoke candidly about his drug and drinking habits during the May 1 episode of the Our Way with Paul Anka and Skip Bronson podcast , responding that he's been on a sobriety journey for nearly four decades when asked if he drinks alcohol.

"I don't discuss this a lot," he responded. "I discuss it every now and then when it makes sense. I'm 39 years sober. I got sober Feb. 23, 1985." Looking back on his move from New York City to Los Angeles in 1983, the Beetlejuice actor admitted to Anka and Bronson that he had a "white-hot problem every day for two years."

"I think I snorted a line of cocaine from here to Saturn," he continued, adding that he and his Hollywood friends "did [a line] 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, Baldwin noted, "because I stopped doing drugs, my drinking increased, which they tell you is going to happen. And that did happen. I just started drinking."

In 1985, Baldwin made the choice to become totally sober. "I don't miss drugs at all, but I do miss drinking. I like to drink," he admitted. When asked what he does to replace drinking when it comes to dealing "with the pressures of the outside forces ," Baldwin says living in New York City for the last 45 years has been pivotal for him.

"New York relaxes me. I walk around, and I see aspects of it that I've never seen before," he shared, citing lunch and coffee dates with friends and artistic events like the opera and ballet as examples of where he finds peace. "I do try to meditate," Baldwin continued, noting that the task is a bit more challenging with the seven children he and wife Hilaria Baldwin have at home. (Baldwin is also dad to daughter Ireland, 28, with ex-wife Kim Basinger.) "Meditating with seven children is like trying to play ping pong on the deck of an aircraft carrier," he joked. "It's a real pain in the ass, man."

If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse or addiction, please call the National Drug Helpline at (844) 289-0879.