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Actor Christian Slater insists addiction and manipulation are linked, which is why he still struggles with lying even though he's sober.
The True Romance star had his first glass of champagne when he was only nine years old, and he had a number of run-ins with the law due to his wild behaviour when growing up. Christian hasn’t had a drink for many years, but still has a daily battle with other unsavoury traits that can come from it.
“I think I have set aside alcohol, but I haven’t set aside certain characteristics, which might be… lying,” he confessed to Britain’s The Guardian newspaper. “You know, trying to manipulate things. When you are drinking and if you are, hypothetically, doing drugs, then I think lying is a natural extension of that. Because if you’re doing those things, there’s a possibility that you’re going to feel shame. You’re going to want to cover up and deny the things that happened the night before.”
Even now Christian doesn’t think he is always true to himself, which he feels is a form of lying. He often finds himself at a crossroads, debating whether to do the right thing or tell a lie.
“Do I want to go down the road that has led me to this one ending?” he explained. “Or try this other road, where I actually do just tell the truth? And be honest, and be brave in that particular moment.”
For Christian, it was a shock to realise that getting sober wasn’t actually the hardest part of his recovery. Dealing with all the feelings that come to the forefront once the numbness of alcohol has worn off was the real battle.
“Because it can be very painful when emotions begin to surface that you’ve been stuffing down,” he explained. “Oh my God, it’s like, what? This doesn’t feel good. You don’t want to feel pain. You want to try to avoid pain as much as possible. And some people can avoid pain to the point where they end up not feeling anything anymore – and they’re gone. I’ve certainly had friends, and people that I’ve been very close with, who weren’t necessarily able to handle it.”