‘You get a real sense of God in rehab’: How Robin Williams described his struggle with alcohol
Full text of the much-loved actor's 2007 interview printed in the South China Morning Post in which he discussed religion and his battle with alcohol and drugs
Actor Robin Williams, who has died aged 63 of an apparent suicide, spent several stints in rehab as he fought a long battle with alcoholism and drug addiction. The much-loved performer spoke to Kavita Daswani after one such period of treatment in an interview published by the South China Morning Post on August 5, 2007. Williams said he was feeling better for rehab and religion in the interview, the full text of which runs below ...
Sitting down with Robin Williams is like being treated to a personal stand-up show. Although he can be considered and focused, it’s almost as if the comic and actor can’t help himself, inevitably riffing on anything and everything from marriage to the new iPhone. His comedic genius is evident as soon as he opens his mouth. This is a man who could probably develop a gut-busting routine based on something as innocuous as a doorknob.
Not surprisingly, the buzz among entertainment journalists is that Williams is notoriously hard to interview. He can barely keep a straight line of thought going for more than a few sentences, while the interviewer, it must be said, has trouble keeping a straight face. Generally, a 20-minute chat with him devolves into a rampant use of profanities on his part, and uncontrollable giggling from anyone who happens to be within earshot.
That said, Williams was in a slightly more sombre mood recently (well, for a short while, anyway). He turned to talk of rehab, God, religion and alcoholism – all of which have been close to his heart lately.
“You get a real strong sense of God when you go through rehab,” he says. Williams, 56, checked himself into a rehab facility in Los Angeles for about a month last year. His spokeswoman at the time said he’d been sober for 20 years, but then “found himself drinking again, and has decided to take proactive measures to deal with this for his own well-being and the well-being of his family”. A year on, he says he’s come out of it a better man. “Having the idea of a really loving and forgiving God really helps if you’re an alcoholic – someone going, ‘It’s OK. Remember, there was wine at the Last Supper.”