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Josh Brolin opens up about how he finally got sober and says he’s having ‘more fun’ now

Josh Brolin talks about his long road to sobriety.

“I was born to drink. I was born to drink. My mother drank just like me, and I was raised to be a man and drink like the male equivalent of my mother,” Brolin, 56, wrote in his new memoir: From beneath the trunkper The Sunday times.

According to the outlet, Brolin first tried marijuana at age 9 and dropped acid at age 13, which set him on a long road of substance abuse, specifically alcoholism.

A year after his mother died at the age of 55, his father decided James Brolijnpursued a romance with Barbara Streisand. Josh recalled that she was “a little confused” by his behavior. When he walked into James and Streisand’s house and asked for a glass of red wine, Josh said the actress was blunt with her answer. “But aren’t you a drunkard?” Streisand, 82, asked.

Josh Brolin says people would comment on being James Brolin’s son, but ‘not in a good way’

While reflecting on the moment during a Sunday, November 17, interview with the outlet, Josh said, “There’s nothing I ultimately appreciate more in someone than the ability to just say it, regardless of the reaction.”

Josh, who had previously had periods of sobriety, said he tried to keep his drinking out of reach of his two eldest children. But there was a point when his drinking “crossed a line” and affected his eldest children. (Josh shares Trevor, 36, and Eden, 29, with his first wife, Alice Adair. After a marriage to Diane Lane, which ended in 2013, Josh tied the knot Kathryn Boyd. The couple shares daughters Westlyn, 6, and Chapel, 3.)

Josh Brolin shares how he finally got sober after he started drinking at age 9

Josh Brolin shares how he finally got sober after he started drinking at age 9

“It was about taking care of animals and not being there to take care of an animal,” he said. After the outlet asked if one of his children’s pets had died, he replied, “No, but close.” And I thought, ‘That’s because of me.’ ”

In 2013, Josh recalled waking up outside his house with a hangover and recalling a fight at a fast food drive-through in Santa Monica. He picked himself up and went to his 99-year-old grandmother’s deathbed, where he was struck by the thought that he was halfway through her life.

Josh Brolin Says Getting Sober Has Helped Him Raise His Younger Kids: It’s an ‘Open Dialogue’

It was then that he decided to be sober. “I knew that would be the last time I drank,” Josh said.

He continued with drug rehabilitation and joined Alcoholics Anonymous. “I like getting older. It’s a good excuse to finally say, ‘OK, just take it easy, you don’t have to spin all the time,'” he said.

Josh noted that he has “more fun” when he is sober. He added: “There’s nothing I experience that I’m absolutely certain wouldn’t be worse if I drank.”

If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, contact the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).

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