‘Harry Potter’ actor Tom Felton explains how an escape from rehab helped his sobriety
Tom Felton’s sobriety story is nothing new to most of us. Now 43, the actor has spoken publicly about his struggle with addiction and its devastating effects on his family.
After years of working in the industry, Felton admitted he struggled with a decade-long addiction to alcohol and other drugs. He became addicted to prescription drugs, eventually becoming addicted to OxyContin.
The actor’s addiction to drugs was a devastating secret during his time in rehab. “The most difficult thing was my honesty,” he told the US website Cosmopolitan.com.
“No drugs gave me a better than 30-year life. My drug-use led me to believe I was invincible. I went to some of the greatest parties in the world. And while people were having parties, I would be on one of the most self-destructive periods in my life.”
“To the outside world, this looked like an amazing life,” he went on to explain. “A family man, a successful director, a Hollywood movie star. But this is a life of chaos.”
“My addiction destroyed my relationships and my family. I lost friends, the friendship of my ex-wife, my children. This left me in a dark place,” he said.
“I know that’s not an excuse. In rehab, I learned about the addictive nature of addiction. While I was fighting that addiction, my children were growing up. I realized the consequences of my actions for myself and my family. My life could have been taken over by one drug.”
As a father himself, Felton said he was able to accept his parents’ separation. But he couldn’t help struggling with their financial loss. “I lost the love of my life to addiction and the love and support of my parents as well. This was a devastating time for me,” he added.
Felton finally turned his life around by going to rehab in 2016.
“I was ready for a change and that’s why I started a treatment-based, 12-step program,” he said. “It’s a holistic approach to addiction recovery. The program involved working with a doctor and