Danny Trejo Thanks God He Became Sober Before Fatherhood
By Movieguide® Contributor
Actor Danny Trejo recently revealed to Fox News that he “hit rock bottom” before he became sober and how he thanks God that it happened before he had kids.
“Rock bottom is when people are telling you, ‘Hey, you know, you’re out of line.’ There’s so much negative with drinking, you know,” the SPY KIDS actor said. “And people say, ‘Well, we’re having a dry January.’ God bless you. That means some of you are going to be alive in February.”
“It’s a killer. You know, your kids see you drinking and enjoying, they start drinking, you know…My kids went through the whole thing. My kids have never seen me drunk. Have never seen me use drugs. And I thank God for that,” the actor shared.
“So when they were in their problem, they knew they could count on Dad. My son…Gilbert’s got nine years clean right now and is a member of the PGA (Professional Golfers’ Association). He’s my retirement plan,” Trejo joked.
In July 2017, Trejo posted a photo of him with Gilbert and said, “My son is 3 years sober today! Congratulations Gilbert Trejo I’m so proud of you!”
Movieguide® recently reported how the actor credited God for his sobriety:
Now 79 years old, the actor wrote, “I’m 55 years clean and sober today by the grace of God! I’ve done this one day at a time, and for anyone out there struggling YOU CAN TOO!”
Trejo also shared that he got introduced to sobriety completely by accident.
“I accidentally walked into an Alcoholics Anonymous when I was fifteen years old. Accidentally. It was a lot of people outside, and we thought it was a party, so we busted inside, and it was an AA meeting. And I was carrying a case of beer, three bottles of wine, a half pint of whiskey. I was already loaded on pills, and I had a .38 snub nose. And I was fifteen years old,” the MACHETE actor said.
“We kicked in the door, and the first thing we saw was a big sign that said, ‘We care—Alcoholics Anonymous,” Trejo laughed. “So that was my introduction. So it was funny because my sponsor, Johnny Harris, the first time he heard me say that, he said, ‘Those were previews of coming attractions, you know what I mean.’ And it was.”
Fifteen-year-old Trejo didn’t join AA that day. He’d have to hit rock bottom to finally attend a meeting.
As a 20-year-old, Trejo was at a very low place in prison. Still, with access to heroin and alcohol, he finally decided to give it up after he cried out to God, “Let me die with dignity. If I gotta, let me die with dignity.” Per American Addiction Centers, a former prisoner then encouraged Trejo to join an AA meeting, and he did.
“It’s funny, I came back five years later and said, ‘Hi, my name is Danny, I’m an alcoholic.’ I mean, because it was, like…obvious. You’re in the penitentiary; you’re still drinking. You’re still using. Somethings wrong. You know, you get a DUI, you go to a bar, something’s wrong. You understand? It’s like your wife is screaming at you, ‘Look at the kids; they’re seeing you crazy!’ Something is wrong. But we don’t see it that way,” Trejo said as he gestured to himself.
“It’s so funny because I can remember being dead drunk, and somebody waking you up, and I said, ‘No, I’m just drinking slusslly,” Trejo slurred. “So a drunk is a drunk, you know…People say, ‘Hey, you’ve got blue on your face,’ you’ll go to the mirror. People tell ya ‘Hey you know what, you’re drinking too much, [but] you’ll say, ‘Ah, no, no, no, I can handle it.”
The actor believes that alcoholics must have people nearby who’ll tell them that they have a problem.
“You’ve got to have people around you that have your best interests because everybody knows who has an alcoholic problem. And then we hide it, you know? We don’t want to say, ‘My mom’s a drunk. My dad’s a drunk.’ So you hide it. But the reality is you got a problem. And so I learned that, well, you know, like when you’re in a penitentiary, locked up forever, and you’re still making pruno and getting drunk, something is wrong,” he said.
