Denzel Washington admits to be victim of alcohol abuse

One of Hollywood's biggest names, Denzel Washington, revealed he battled being an alcoholic and abusing drugs as the 69-year-old emotionally admits it has taken a toll on his body, despite being sober for almost a decade.

The New Yorker, who has won two Academy Awards throughout his career, said it was wine that had him hooked despite trying multiple different drinks and hard drugs such as heroin and cocaine.

"I've done a lot of damage to the body," Washington confessed to Esquire. "We'll see. I've been clean. Things are opening up for me now - like being seventy. It's real.

"And it's OK. This is the last chapter - if I get another thirty, what do I want to do? My mother made it to ninety-seven. I'm doing the best I can.

"Wine is very tricky. It's very slow. It ain't like, boom, all of a sudden. I never got strung out on heroin.

"Never got strung out on coke. Never got strung out on hard drugs. I shot dope just like they shot dope, but I never got strung out."

He confessed that when he and his family added a wine cellar to their home, he would be spending $4000 on bottles, often collecting the "best" from Gil Turner's Fine Wines & Spirits in Los Angeles.

However, he said that he still had a degree of control. He only ordered two bottles to restrict his consumption and said that he managed them throughout the day, as well as never consuming when he was preparing for, or performing, a role.

Washington revered in Gladiator II

Gladiator II has high expectations considering the success of the predecessor, starring Russell Crowe and Joaquin Pheonix, that dominated the Academy Awards in 2000.

And if one person proved he is up to the task, that was Washington in the role of Macrinus as he takes on the task of portraying a scheming former slave, who is vying for control of the city of Rome.

"Washington almost steals the entire picture," writes Peter Bradshaw for The Guardian.

"As Macrinus shrewdly exploits the gambling addiction of Tim McInnerny's weak and duplicitous Senator Thraex."