Josh Brolin reveals his 99-year-old grandmother inspired him to finally get Sober at 45

MCU star Josh Brolin recently opened up about his struggle with alcohol addiction and the events that led to his sobriety.

The 56-year-old star revealed that an emotional interaction with his dying grandmother finally pushed him to get sober at age 45.

During a chat on Ted Danson and Woody Harrelson’s podcast, Where Everybody Knows Your Name, Brolin recounted his last night of drinking, which involved a hit-and-run incident at a Del Taco restaurant. 

On that night, Brolin was supposed to pick up his brother and visit his 99-year-old grandmother, who was on her deathbed. 

Instead, he woke up on the sidewalk with no memory of where he had left his car.

He explained, “That last night that I drank, there was a hit and run at Del Taco, there was that.”

“There was, um, I woke up on the sidewalk, I didn’t know where my car was and it wasn’t that that was rare, that was just, you know, the 400th time that it happened, it was so normal when I woke up.”

He continued, “But my grandmother—I was supposed to be at my, my grandmother was on her deathbed.”

 “I was the one in the family that put everything together and structured everything and controlled everything.”

When Brolin finally made it to the hospital, his grandmother’s reaction became the catalyst for change. 

He recounted, “Everybody knew when I walked into the room, picked her head up and looked at me and smiled and that was it. I was done.” 

“I said, ‘If this woman could get through 99 years on her, on life’s terms, how dare me.’ … and I’d gotten away with m—I was 45 years old and I had done, I’d done, you know I had gotten away with a lot. 

The actor, who had been in jail nine times by that point, decided it was time for a drastic change.

Brolin continued, “Been in jail nine times, you know, done a little bit of stu—you know, whatever.”

“So I thought, ‘I wonder if I could do that half of life like that and then do this half of life like this. Then I get to live two lives and not just one well done.”

When Brolin was asked if he ever felt tempted to have a drink while around others who were drinking, he said, “No.”

He further elaborated, “I feel like something’s been cultivated in me that I helped cultivate, that my life now is better than my greatest romance of any drink I could have.”