Simon Pegg: ‘You become very sneaky when you’re trying to hide alcoholism’
Simon Pegg was “sneaky” about hiding his alcohol addiction.
The 53-year-old actor first revealed he was hooked on booze in an interview with The Guardian in 2018, and has now said he struggled to hide it on the set of ‘Mission: Impossible III’, in which he stared as technician Benjamin ‘Benji’ Dunn alongside Tom Cruise.
He told host Lauren Laverne on the new edition of BBC Radio 4’s ‘Desert Island Discs’ about shooting the film while drinking: “You learn how to do it without anyone noticing because it takes over.
“It wants to sustain itself and it will do everything it can to not be stopped.
“But eventually it just gets to a point when it can’t be hidden, and that’s when, thankfully, I was able to pull out of the dive.
“You become very sneaky when you have something like that in your life.”
Simon, who is set to reprise his Benji role in the seventh instalment of the ‘Mission: Impossible’ franchise later this year, told The Guardian about his pain over rewatching the third flick in the series: “When I watch that film back, I can see where I was then, which was fairly lost, and unhappy, and an alcoholic.”
He added about trying to hide his addiction before he got sober: “One thing (addiction) does is make you clever at not giving anything away.
“People think junkies and alcoholics are slovenly, unmotivated people. They’re not – they are incredibly organised.
“They can nip out for a quick shot of whisky and you wouldn’t know they have gone.
“It’s as if… you are micro-managed by it. But eventually the signs are too obvious. You have taken the dog for one too many walks.”
Simon, who has daughter Matilda, 13, with his wife Maureen McCann, is now sober after being treated at the Priory, attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and undergoing therapy.
