Steve Coogan Discusses Cocaine Addiction: 'I'll Always Be A Recovering Drug Addict'
Steve Coogan Opens Up About Cocaine Addiction
Daniel Welsh— The Huffington Post UK
|
Steve Coogan has opened up about his addiction to cocaine, admitting that the drug eventually caused him to have debilitating panic attacks.
The British comedian says he first became hooked on the drug in the early 1990s, claiming it was so readily available to him that he didn’t even need to buy it.
Open Image Modal
Steve Coogan
In new excerpts from his book ‘Easily Distracted’, which have been published in The Guardian, he recalls the first cocaine-induced panic attack he suffered, which he feared at the time could kill him.
“Patrick put me in a car and drove through red lights to get me to hospital. I cried all the way. I couldn’t stop thinking, ‘I’m going to die. This is it. My headstone will say: Stephen Coogan, born in Middleton in 1965, died in Edinburgh in 1992, aged 26 years’. What a waste!”
He goes on to say that after leaving hospital he had repeated panic attacks in the ensuing days, and “quickly became depressed”.
“When I came back from Edinburgh, I saw a therapist. He asked if I had a feeling of impending catastrophe. That was the perfect word: catastrophe. He then described a panic attack and I was immediately calmer – I wasn’t going mad. This was a condition, and as soon as I could label it, I felt better.”
Steve, best known for his comedy character Alan Partridge, says that therapy helped him conquer his panic attacks, and eventually went to rehab to try and deal with his addiction.
He insists: “Wanting and then needing some sort of constant stimulus becomes debilitating. I don’t take drugs or drink any more, but I am in no denial about my past: I will always be a recovering addict.”
Steve Coogan’s memoir, ‘Easily Distracted’, is released on 8 October.
10 British Comedians In Hollywood
Russell Brand(01 of10)
Open Image Modal
Clearly Hollywood's idea of the consummate, sexy British rogue, Brand has gone from St Trinian's to modern-day Arthur - via Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Get Him to the Greek.
Simon Pegg (02 of10)
Open Image Modal
We tip our hats to Nick Frost, too, of course, but it's Pegg that's really broken out - with roles in the Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol and Star Trek, and leading man status in How to Lose Friends & Alienate People.
Sacha Baron Cohen(03 of10)
Open Image Modal
We first knew him as Staines 'gangsta' Ali G - but now he's Borat, Bruno, The Dictator and the voice of Julien the lemur in Madagascar.
John Cleese(04 of10)
Open Image Modal
Hollywood loves Monty Python, of course - but with Bond films, Harry Potter movies and A Fish Called Wanda under his belt, Cleese is the Brit who really carved his own Stateside film career.
Steve Coogan(05 of10)
Open Image Modal
He broke through with Hollywood hits Night At The Museum and Tropic Thunder, but obviously both of those will be mere blips compared to the film we're really waiting for: Alan Partridge: The Movie. Aha!
Ricky Gervais(06 of10)
Open Image Modal
No sooner had Wernham Hogg become Dunder Mifflin than the former The 11 O'Clock Show star had written, directed and starred in Cemetery Junction and The Invention Of Lying, bagged a role in Night At The Museum 2 and hosted the Golden Globes.
Stephen Merchant(07 of10)
Open Image Modal
Gervais's right-hand man and West Country boy done good, Merchant seems to be carving himself a niche as the Obligatory Weird And/Or British Friend (as seen in the Farrelly Brothers comedy Hall Pass and romcom I Give It A Year).
Rowan Atkinson(08 of10)
Open Image Modal
To us, he may always be Blackadder, but to Hollywood, he's the rubberfaced money machine that is Johnny English and Mr Bean. Not forgetting Dexter Hayman in Hot Shots! Part Deux, of course.
Matt Lucas(09 of10)
Open Image Modal
His Hollywood breakthrough may have only just happened, but given that Bridesmaids was one of the biggest comedy hits in box office history, we somehow think that Lucas - who also starred in Tim Burton's Alice In Wonderland - has many more big screen roles ahead of him.
The Inbetweeners(10 of10)
Open Image Modal
OK, so '10' is a whole cast (and crew). But this list wouldn't be complete without The Inbetweeners, who made the most successful British comedy movie in history, grossing over $45m from a film which cost just $3.5m to make. And if it's one thing Hollywood loves, it's that kind of math(s).