Harry Potter star Jason Isaacs marks 28 years of sobriety and pays tribute to those who helped 'love him back to life'

Jason Isaacs marked 28 years of sobriety on Tuesday and paid tribute to those who helped 'love him back to life'. 

The Harry Potter star, 63, took to Instagram to share a candid video discussing how he had lost hope and believed he was 'going to die' due to taking drugs and drinking.

Jason said that he is 'grateful' he changed his life by following the 12 Steps at Alcoholics Anonymous as he insisted to others struggling that there is a way out. 

He said: '28 years ago today I woke up having spent the night without drugs, which was the first time that had happened for decades, without drugs or drink. 

'I've lived a life which is drug and drink free since, I'm not saying that to celebrate myself at all but incase this ever reaches anybody who thinks they're trapped and thinks there is no way to change there life. 

'I've seen remarkable and extraordinary things, just my own personal story I was without any hope and no question I was going to die of and with drugs on me or in me.

'I wanted it to just hurry up and happen, I wanted to make it happen myself faster. I was living a life without hope and now I'm living a life with hope. It's not all blissful and dancing but it's life and I'm in it and so grateful. 

'I gave up trying to control anything and surrendered and asked for help so, if you are in a dire situation and think there is no escape I'm here to tell you there is, just ask.'

He continued: 'There are many ways to do it, just ask. I did 12 steps groups, I'm not a poster boy for them but they've worked for me so far and there are many ways to do and you change your life.

'You can live a life without drugs and drink and engage with lifes terms which can be magnificent so, good luck and I give you all my love.'

Back in 2020, Jason spoke candidly about his 'decades-long love affair with drugs' in a series called Letter to My Younger Self in The Big Issue, where he revealed his issues began with heavy partying as a teenager.

He wrote: 'I’ve always had an addictive personality and by the age of 16 I’d already passed through drink and was getting started on a decades-long love affair with drugs.'

The star said his actions were 'filtered through a burning need I had for being as far from a conscious, thinking, feeling person as possible,' and that 'no message would get through for nearly 20 years.'

Jason opened up about how he initially got drunk off of whiskey at the young age of 12, which led to immediate consequences.

He recalled: 'The barman, who we thought at the time was a hero and I now realize belonged in prison, sneaked us a full bottle of Southern Comfort.

'We drank the entire thing in the toilet, then staggered out into the party, reeling around farcically.

'I vomited, fell on and pulled down a giant curtain, snogged a girl, God bless her… ran out into the street, vomited again, tripped, smashed my head open on the pavement and gushed blood all over my clothes.'

The Golden Globe-nominated confessed that despite feeling immense shame the following day, he was already on a destructive path.

He said: 'The next morning, I woke up with a splitting headache, stinking of puke with a huge scab and the memory of having utterly shamed myself. All I could think was… I cannot f***ing wait to do that again.

'Why? I’ve no idea. Genes? Nurture? Star sign? I just know I chased the sheer ecstatic joy I felt that night for another 20 years with increasingly dire consequences.'

The OA star said he had a turnaround moment when he realized how addicted he was, and how it had affected the way he was viewing the world.

'I remember there being a moment, not long before I got clean, when it suddenly occurred to me that if everybody I knew died, literally every single person, I probably wouldn’t mind that much,' he said.

Jason continued: 'In fact, I might like it, because then it would be an excuse to sit in a room by myself and take drugs and everybody else would say, 'Well you know, fair enough, you heard what happened didn’t you?"'

After sobering up, he came to realise that it wasn't 'true and never was' as he was always a loving and caring person.

'The drugs weren’t a way of dealing with that sense of distance,' he said, 'the drugs were causing it.'

For confidential advice about drugs and addiction, you can talk to FRANK at [email protected], message 82111 or call 0300 123 6600.

If you are struggling with alcohol abuse or addiction, you can contact Alcohol Anonymous at 0800 917 7650 / [email protected] for help.