Sam Worthington Discusses His Sobriety, Struggles With Alcohol After the Success of 'Avatar' & What Helped Him Give Up Drinking for First Time

Sam Worthington has been sober for eight years, and he is shedding light on his struggles with alcohol addiction.

The 46-year-old actor found breakout success after landing a leading role as Jake Sully in 2009′s Avatar. However, he discussed how his experience with fame became overwhelming and influenced an unhealthy relationship with alcohol.

The star opened up about what drove him to sobriety in a recent interview.

Click inside to see what Sam Worthington had to say…

“Drinking helped me get through the day,” Sam told Variety, opening up for the first time about the experience. “Nine out of 10 people couldn’t tell.”

“They could probably smell it on me, but when they looked at me, they couldn’t tell. I was still doing my job – I just don’t think I was doing it very well,” he added.

The star explained that his newfound fame and lack of privacy led to anxiety, which fed into his drinking.

Sam estimated that he’d drink up to five glasses of champagne while waiting for a flight to take off and credited Australian culture for changing his perception of alcohol.

“We don’t necessarily talk about AA and things like that. You don’t recognize it’s an illness, and you don’t understand that some people are just wired differently,” he explained.

He described himself as “an emotional drunk,” adding, “I got more emotional and erratic the longer I drank. I don’t think I was mean, exactly, but I could be belligerent, petulant.”

Ultimately, he credited his wife Lara Worthington for helping him realize that he needed to stop drinking.

“You can do what you want, but I don’t need to be around this,” he recalled her saying.

Check out photos of Sam and Lara at the premiere of Avatar: The Way of Water from last month.